Between Outrage and Admiration
by DreamWeaver619
Summary: After their match at Armageddon 2007, Triple H decides to go congratulate Jeff Hardy on his victory. Jeff Hardy x Triple H Hunter Hearst Helmsley . Warning: SLASH.
1. Chapter 1

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_**Update 2012:**__ per 's regulations I edited the more graphic part of the chapter. I will be uploading the unedited story soon to adultfanfiction. net. You can go over there to read it._

"_When the game is over, the **king** and the pawn go into the same box"_

- Italian Proverb

000

Triple H couldn't keep himself from smiling, when he realized he had been pinned by his opponent Jeff Hardy.

"The little son of a bitch did it…"

Jeff had dealt his hand well. The younger Hardy had played opossum until Hunter set him up for the Pedigree, surprising The Game by suddenly coming alive, and wriggled his arms free. With him caught off guard, the Jeff was successfully able to pull Hunter's legs out from beneath him, roll him up, and then keep him down long enough for the pin and therefore the win.

Hunter looked over and saw Jeff roll out of the ring and jump into the audience to celebrate with them. It was a smart move, not only did that get a rise out of the crowd, but it also kept Jeff protected in case Hunter took it into his head to use his sledgehammer for a little loser's revenge.

With a surprised smile still on his face, Triple H marched up the arena ramp and headed backstage. He seemed to be caught right in between outrage and admiration for the young Hardy. He really had no idea what to do next, so he blindly meandered back toward his locker room.

By chance he met his friend and former evolution member Batista in the hallway.

"Hey, Hunter!" The animal greeted him. "You had an amazing match against Jeff..."

"It's the other way around, he fought an amazing match against me, I'm the king of kings remember?" Triple H muttered somewhat bitterly.

"That is true...that guy's gone a long way since he got that Intercontinental championship from you six years ago," Batista pointed out.

"He had a little help from big brother Matty and a chair in that one," Hunter grumbled. "At least today he beat me by himself."

"You have to admit, the guy deserves some respect…" The Animal smirked.

"I don't have to admit anything," Hunter snapped indignantly.

"At least congratulate Jeff on his victory..." Batista shrugged and looked at the clock. "I have to get going... I need to get ready for Undertaker and Edge."

Hunter managed a slight grin for his friend. "Good luck, don't let Edge cheat you out of your title."

"Ha!" Batista laughed. "Between me and old 'Taker I doubt he'll be able to slip past us."

Hunter watched his friend go for a moment, before turning and continuing on his way to his locker room. When he arrived he threw on his conqueror T-shirt and was about to take off the rest of his wrestling gear when his mind flitted back to the match.

In truth, the contrasting feelings of anger and admiration were confusing him; however, his body seemed to know just what to do with those feelings. He picked up his bag and left his locker room.

Perhaps he would go "congratulate" Jeff Hardy after all…

000

Triple H opened the door to Jeff's locker room to find the young Hardy on the far end sitting on a bench, massaging his lower back himself. No doubt he was still aching from the missed Swanton Bomb earlier.

The Rainbow-haired Warrior was still dressed in his wrestling gear as well; he hadn't even taken off his arm stockings.

Jeff jumped a little when Triple H stepped into the room. "Oh, hey, Hunter."

"Hey…" Triple said coldly.

"That was a good match...It was an honor to fight you in that ring... No hard feelings, I hope." Jeff got up slowly and winced when his back seemed to scream at him for forcing it to bear weight.

"Nah," Hunter finally grinned and waved a hand casually. "It seems that missed Swanton is coming back to bite you."

"No shit," Jeff muttered.

"Yeah, I've seen some of your other matches," Hunter chuckled. He paused, thinking for a moment. Then he saw a way to hopefully get his hands on Jeff. "Need some help with that? I have had so many massage therapies of my own; I've picked up some techniques."

Jeff was apprehensive as to why The Game was suddenly being so nice to him. Did he really want his former opponent's hands anywhere near his spine? On the other hand, Hunter didn't seem vengeful. They were allies right before the match and The Game fought Jeff fair and square in the ring.

"Um…sure…" he said carefully and sat back down on the bench, his back facing Hunter.

"Good," Triple H smirked, tossing his bag on the ground.

He knelt down behind Jeff and began to massage the young Hardy's back. Jeff had to admit it felt good.

Triple H watched Jeff carefully, as soon as the younger man relaxed, The Game subtly slipped his hands lower, past the waistline of Jeff's pants.

"H-Hunter, what are you doing?" Jeff stammered when he realized where The Game's hands were going.

"My hands slipped," Hunter slyly explained.

Jeff stood up, freeing himself from Hunter's grasp. The Rainbow-haired Warrior decided this was getting too risky already, and he didn't want to play with The Game anymore.

"Um... I think that's enough for now, I gotta get back to my hotel," Jeff packed up his things quickly, and shouldering his bag, he headed for the door.

"You sure your back is better?" Hunter reached out and grabbed Jeff's arm, halting the younger Hardy's retreat. "It could still hurt later on, especially since you're fighting tomorrow night."

Jeff pulled his arm free of the other man's grip and took a few steps back. "I'm in a tag match with Shawn, it won't be that bad. I'm not facing Umaga or anything."

"But you're against my former protégé' Randy Orton..." Hunter warned, taking a few steps towards Jeff. "If he gets a hand on you… You could be in a world o' hurt. And there's Kennedy… He'll try to attack you when the referee's distracted, allowing Randy to catch you…"

Jeff kept slowly backing towards the door. "Shawn'll have my back," he said nervously.

"Kennedy could get him while Orton attacks you." Triple H quickly closed the distance between them.

"I can handle Orton. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to…" Jeff turned around and grabbed the doorknob.

The Game made his move. He grabbed Jeff, wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist, and practically shoved his tongue down the surprised Hardy's throat, in a passionate kiss.

He pushed Jeff up against the nearby wall, to trap him more effectively. However, the Rainbow-haired Warrior was able to grab his bag by the handle, and ram it into Hunter's abdomen. It wasn't enough to free him from the Game completely, but at least it broke the ravishing kiss so Jeff could catch his breath.

"What the fuck was that?" Jeff shouted. "What happened to your love for Stephanie?"

"Now you listen," Hunter growled, sandwiching Jeff between himself and the wall. "She's the only woman I've ever loved, but sometimes I lust after other people, more specifically men, particularly, when they beat me in a fight," he sneered. "Somewhere between outrage and admiration I guess, they are two very passionate feelings."

"So you've been doing this to every guy that ever beat you, like John and Shawn and all of those? That's sick!" Jeff snarled in disgust.

"Not every guy," Hunter shrugged. "Shawn wouldn't go for it, but that's because his wife isn't as open minded as Steph. Cena on the other hand…" A sly smile crossed the Game's face. "He screamed my name and came like a rushing river."

"I didn't need to hear that! Get the hell away from me" Jeff tried in vain to push Triple H away.

The Game only tightened his grip on Jeff's shoulders. "You beat me once; let's see you do it again!"

Jeff kicked Hunter in the shins, it wasn't much, but it was enough to throw the larger man off balance, which allowed Jeff to push him away and make a break for the door. However, Triple H quickly recovered and leapt forward, grabbing the strap of Jeff's duffel bag. He jerked the Jeff back toward him and kicked the younger man's legs out from under him.

The younger man hit his head hard on the floor as he fell. Now he hurt from both ends.

Hunter crawled on top of the dazed Rainbow-Haired Warrior, and slipped his hand down in between the unsuspecting Hardy's legs.

Jeff froze as a pleasurable shiver ran through his frame, caused by his body's innate response to Hunter's touch. Triple H smirked as Jeff's cheeks reddened. The Game's ministrations were having their desired effect.

Perhaps it was the residual adrenaline high or all of the pheromones in the air, but In a moment of weakness, from the intoxicating sensations he was experiencing, Jeff let out a small moan of pleasure. Hunter grinned wickedly at the reaction he was getting from his former opponent. "That's right, Hardy. So tell me, does it feel good?"

This moment of weakness on Jeff's part reminded Hunter of that moment in their match when Jeff hesitated to punch him. In return, Triple H had given him a hard slap across the face, angry that the Rainbow Haired Warrior had shown such a lack of resolve in a fight.

However, now The Game wanted the younger Hardy to be weak, he wanted to conquer the man who had beaten him, if not in a fight, then in some other way.

"No…" Jeff rasped when he reclaimed some of his senses despite the fog of pleasure. He pushed Hunter's hand away and grabbed one of the benches for leverage to pull himself out from underneath the bigger man's weight.

Jeff got to his feet, but he was off balance, brought on by fatigue and the blow to the head he had received from being knocked to the floor. Hunter quickly caught up and tackled him. Jeff landed hard on his chest, knocking the wind out of him. Still, his adrenaline was pumping at full blast, and despite the lack of air in his lungs, he tried with all his might to push himself up.

However, Triple H would have none of it and he pulled Jeff's arms out from underneath the young Hardy, effectively pinning him to the floor. Almost as if he were punishing him for trying to escape, the Game drove his knee into Jeff's already sore lower back, causing the younger Hardy to cry out in agony.

"So you still have some fight left in you, eh?" Hunter sneered into Jeff's ear. "Good! I like a challenge, it wouldn't be any fun if you were completely broken. I just need to tame you a little."

"Well what are you waiting for?" Jeff growled, he was determined to be defiant until the end. Hunter's intentions had already been made crystal clear by his actions so far. He went over his options of how to get out of this, with his virginity and his lower back intact. Hunter was a determined man who almost always got what he wanted, and if he wanted Jeff to spread his legs for the King of Kings, it would probably happen sooner or later. Hell he was surprised Hunter hadn't already ripped off his clothes and taken advantage of him right there.

"I have a proposition for you Jeff Hardy." Hunter said huskily in his ear, as strange combination of a business-like air and lust. "Give me what I want, and I'll have your back. Refuse and I can't guarantee that I will take it very well."

Jeff mulled it over. Even though he was technically straight and only had actual sex with a woman, that didn't mean he'd never had a homoerotic fantasy in his head. He had just never had another male be interesting enough to take that leap to "the other team" so to speak, even as an experiment.

Hunter had been one of those in brain fantasies. The raw, unbridled, masculine power had caught the eye of the 24 year old Jeff Hardy when they first fought over the intercontinental championship back in 2001. There was something about Hunter that had made his blood rush, then again so did standing on a ladder before a screaming crowd. Back then he was up for just about anything new and exciting. If Hunter had come to him then he might have flopped on his back out of sheer curiosity. However, back then when Jeff might have submitted with little effort on Hunter's part, Triple H did not have any interest in pursuing him. Oh the irony.

Now, Five years older, five years wiser. Supposedly. He would not let the Triple H simply take what he wanted. If he played along, then he could his own terms for the surrender of his body. In order to not be completely conquered he would have to play The Game.

"Okay," Jeff gasped, trying to get enough air back into his lungs to speak.

Triple H lightened up very slightly to give Jeff some more breathing room, curious at what the young Hardy had to say. "What?"

"Just this once…" Jeff swallowed hard, but found that the thought of this bargain didn't turn his stomach as much as he thought. Perhaps some of those fanciful sentiments from his younger self had carried over. "If I let you have your way with me, will you leave me alone from now on, and never try this stunt on me again?"

Hunter frowned slightly as he had expected Jeff to put up more of a fight, but he shook off the feeling in favor of his anticipation of conquering the rainbow-haired warrior. "Deal."

"You promise?" Jeff quirked his eyebrow at him.

To show he meant what he said, Triple H let Jeff's arms go, and held up his now free hands. "I promise."

"All right… All right…" Jeff murmured as Hunter got off him. "Just go easy on my back okay, oh and if I get a STD from this, I'm suing you!"

Hunter laughed. "Don't worry I've been tested regularly."

"Can we lock the door or something?" Jeff muttered.

Triple H nodded, he too did not want anyone walking in on them, though for different reasons than Jeff's. He locked the door and turned back to the Rainbow-haired Warrior with a smirk. "It's just you and me now."

"Great," Jeff muttered dryly, as he got to his feet and staggered into the bathroom.

"Where do you think you're going?" Triple H demanded.

"I don't know…" Jeff sighed, stopping at the entrance to the showering area. "Having sex in the middle of the locker room just seems so low class."

Triple H laughed. "I like the way you think." He reached into his bag and pulled out a small tube of personal lubricant.

The Rainbow-haired warrior just rolled his eyes as he stepped into the shower area. "Let's just get this over with."

Hunter smirked as he grabbed Jeff's arm, turning the young Hardy around and, pressing their lips together. Jeff automatically tensed up when his lips met. He could feel Hunter's tongue trying to tease his mouth open. For the sake of the promise, Jeff obeyed and parted his lips and teeth to allow Triple H entrance.

Hunter's hands slipped down to grope Jeff's bottom, while his tongue caressed the younger man's mouth. Triple H counted himself lucky, Jeff had apparently eaten some skittles before, so his mouth tasted sweet, just like candy.

Jeff, unsure of what to do with his hands, hesitantly raised them up and placed them on Hunter's shoulders, in an awkward embrace. He felt his stomach turn at the feel of Triple H's hands all over him and the older man's tongue practically shoved down his throat.

Unfortunately, Hunter made the mistake of moving his hands up from Jeff's bottom to grip his waist, which led to impinging on Hardy's lower back.

Jeff broke the kiss and pushed Triple H away.

"I said take it easy on my back man!" The Rainbow-haired warrior snapped.

"Sorry," Hunter said softly. He was genuinely apologetic; although seeing Jeff mad and flustered like this with his short purple and red streaked hair all mussed up about his face only turned the Game on even more. "How about we just get right down to the real business?"

"Might as well," Jeff grumbled, massaging his back a little. "How do you want me? Lying down? Bent over? Against the wall?"

As much as he wanted to see Jeff naked and bent over on his knees, The Game didn't want to give him an excuse to interrupt their love making because of a sore back.

"Lying down might be easier on your back overall," Hunter shrugged, trying to sound casual. "Man, you are an amateur at this."

"Look I've never actually been fucked by anyone before," Jeff admitted. "I've done the fucking, but I've never been on the receiving end. So I have no idea what I'm doing." He lay down on the cold shower floor. It actually felt good against his back. He bent his knees up so he could flatten his back against the cool tiles even more.

"Now should I take off my pants or do you do that?" Jeff asked dryly.

Hunter's eyebrows shot up at Jeff's admission. "You mean to tell me, you're a virgin?"

Jeff let out an exasperated sigh. "As far as getting penetrated, yes…"

"You?" Triple H chuckled as if it was all just a big joke Jeff was playing. "I don't believe it."

Jeff propped himself up on his elbows and gave the Game an incredulous look. "Why not? It's the truth."

Hunter kept right on sniggering. "Come on, the rainbow hair and the nails, and the arm stocking things. You mean to tell me you're not…"

"No. I'm not officially." Jeff said flatly.

Jeff was not a virgin in the sense he had never had sex before. He's had many sexual encounters, but he had never had anyone penetrate him before, mainly because contrary to the popular locker room belief, he was straight.

Triple H stopped laughing. "And you've never…?"

"No."

"You mean you and Chris Jericho didn't…?

"No."

"You and Edge or Christian never got it on back in the day?"

"NO!"

"With Matt? I know you two are brothers, but you two are awfully close…"

"NO, you sick bastard!"

"What about you and Shawn?"

"No!"

"RVD?"

"No…"

"A.J. Styles?"

"For the last time, Hunter, I've never fucked a guy or been fucked by anyone period!"

Triple H stared at Jeff blankly for a moment, before a Cheshire cat grin spread across his face. He sauntered casually over to the Rainbow-haired Warrior and in a rare show of tenderness; he gently brushed the messy red and purple hair out of the young Hardy's face.

Jeff tensed up, more apprehensive about a soft touch from The Game than a harsh one. After all, a slap in the face was just that, a slap in the face; however, a soft touch could have a hidden meaning, or simply be the calm before the great storm.

"Relax," Hunter whispered, carefully pushing Jeff's legs down flat. He then went to work on unbuckling the belt around Jeff's cargo jeans. He chuckled a little when he finished with the buckle and unzipped the pants. "Who would have thought I would be the one to pop little Jeffie's cherry."

"Oh God…" Jeff groaned and rolled his eyes, before laying back down on to the floor and, covering his face with his hands, to hide his reddening cheeks as Hunter tugged his cargo jeans and underwear down past his knees. The garments couldn't come off all the way on account that Jeff still had his wrestling boots on.

"Ready?"

"Just do it."

000

Completely spent, Hunter leaned forward to rest his forehead against Jeff's chest. After catching his breath, Triple H lifted his head to look at the young Hardy. He expected Jeff to be just as flushed, and panting as he was, however, the Rainbow-haired Warrior just blinked at him, giving The Game an almost "Are you done yet?" look.

While Triple H had been enjoying the pleasures of Jeff's body, Jeff had focused on the wall at the other end of the showers and counted tiles made use of his abilities to shut himself off from his lower body. This was a method he often employed after a particularly hard match to cope with the pain until the pain medication kicked in. It was sort of a pseudo meditative state.

Hunter had paid no heed to what Jeff was doing. His eyes had been closed, as he had been completely over taken by the pleasurable sensations. It had been a long time since he had taken a virgin and the new experience had sent waves of ecstasy running through his veins. Not to mention the dominance he had over The Rainbow-haired Warrior, was an intoxicating drug.

A few moments of awkward silence passed between them before Jeff made the first move of lifting his legs off Hunter's shoulders and, pulling his cargo jeans back up. Hunter automatically followed suit, but his mind was elsewhere.

Even though he had just taken the young Hardy for all he was worth, he felt strangely deprived once he found out Jeff hadn't really been a part of it at all. The Game hadn't accomplished what he had set out to do. He had not conquered The Rainbow-haired Warrior.

Jeff shakily stood up, wincing as he tried walking. "Great now my whole backside hurts. Thanks a lot." He started heading out of the room, when Triple H caught him by the arm.

"Wait a minute; you weren't paying attention at all were you?"

"What did you think would happen when you came in here like Rambo without a jockstrap and tried to force yourself on me?" Jeff snapped. "Did you really expect me to cry in ecstasy, scream your name like John did?" The young Hardy turned to leave again, but Triple H pulled on his arm.

"We had an agreement!" Hunter growled.

"Look, man!" Jeff whirled around to face the Game. "I said I would let you have your way with me. I never said I would be an active participant."

Triple H grumbled to himself as Jeff's bargain seemed air tight. In his eagerness to get into Jeff's pants, Hunter had not fully considered all of the terms of the agreement. It seemed the young Hardy had played his hand well to keep himself from being conquered completely, even though he allowed Hunter complete sexual rights. He did not call out Hunter's name in ecstasy, he did not beg or plead for more, he did not moan in pain or pleasure; instead, he had just shut himself off from his body, and ignored what was going on until Triple H was finished with him. This left The Game very unsatisfied.

Hunter was about to storm out of the room, when he realized there was a discrepancy that neither he nor Jeff had noticed before. He grabbed Jeff by his shoulders and pinned him against the wall.

"Is that so?" Triple H grinned wickedly, "Well I think I've just found a loophole."

With that Hunter shoved his hand down the front of Jeff's pants and cupped the younger man's budding erection, brought on by their previous activity. Apparently, Jeff could not control all of his body's innate responses to stimulation. The young Hardy let out a gasp both in surprise and pleasure as Hunter massaged his sensitive areas in a most rousing manner.

When Jeff reclaimed some of his senses from the fog of pleasure, he slid his own hand down to stop Triple H's ministrations. "Stop… You… promised…" Jeff said between ragged breaths.

"Ah…uh…" The Game corrected, with a sneer. "The agreement was you would let me have my way with you today, and from then on I'd leave you alone. Well I'm not done yet for the day. I admit I get quite a kick out of turning other people on, particularly when they beg for it. Now remove your hand or the deal is off."

The sneer on Hunter's face grew even broader when he saw the fear and shock on the young Hardy's face as he realized The Game had completely turned the tables on him. Slowly, Jeff removed his own hand and let it rest at his side, allowing Triple H full and unhindered access to him.

"You thought you could out play the Game?" Triple H snarled quietly into Jeff's ear. "That was your fatal mistake." He continued to knead Jeff's arousal, relishing the lusty moans that escaped Jeff's lips. Jeff knew how to block out pain, but not pleasure. This was just what Hunter wanted, Jeff completely at his mercy. He and only he would control the young Hardy's pleasure or pain. Hunter was massaged Jeff; it just weak enough to not make the young Hardy climax and release too soon. He knew Jeff's erection was growing painfully hard, and at the right moment he stopped fondling all together.

The young Hardy opened his eyes. "Well, what are you waiting for? Finish it," he rasped.

"Beg for it," Hunter hissed, giving Jeff's crotch a painful squeeze, eliciting a choked whimper from the young Hardy.

After absorbing the pain Jeff furrowed his brow in disbelief and anger. "You son of a bitch…"

Triple H frowned and squeezed harder. "I said beg!"

"No!" Jeff growled defiantly through teeth clenched in pain.

"Beg!" The Game demanded again.

Jeff's face contorted from pain to anger. "No! I won't let you force me to beg! If you don't finish it I'll do it myself!"

Triple H frowned, even after all this, even in the vulnerable position he had him in; The Rainbow Haired Warrior was still defiant.

"What makes you think I won't rip your balls off for your continued insolence?" The Game challenged Jeff.

The Rainbow-haired Warrior smirked. "Because if you injured me too badly I'd have to go to the hospital and then everyone will know about your little liaisons. Even though Stephanie is open-minded, Vince may not be. At the very least he would be pissed about everyone finding out."

Hunter looked at the young Hardy, utterly flabbergasted. He didn't know whether to beat the shit out of Jeff, or pat him on the back for his resilience and a game well played.

Triple H loosened his grip. "Well played, Hardy."

"I learned from the best." Jeff put on a strained smirk, as his body was still pleading for an orgasm. "All of those times, you guys all thought I was off in my own little world, I was listening to every word and every plan you said."

"Clever, boy…" The Game murmured coldly, angry at himself at just how much he had underestimated the Rainbow-haired Warrior. "All right, Hardy, you won… again," he admitted grudgingly.

"Thanks," Jeff hissed through clenched teeth. His erection was literally aching for an orgasm. "Can you leave now?"

"Oh no, Jeff," Hunter smirked. "I would be a sore loser if I just left you hanging, I should finish what I started."

The young Hardy's eyes rolled back into his head as he closed them. His grimaced, not in pain but in pleasure as Hunter continued his ministrations. It did not take long as Jeff was practically on the verge already. Hunter leaned forward and fervently kissed Jeff on the lips. With his mind completely swimming with passion, Jeff kissed him just as ardently back.

The Rainbow-haired Warrior broke the kiss, catching his breath, as he climaxed. He leaned his head against The Game's shoulder, panting in the aftermath of ecstasy. After his breath had slowed, he pulled away from the larger man and leaned against the wall, his loins still trembling from the experience. His legs weak, he slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position.

After Jeff had collected himself a little more, he laughed softly.

"What's so funny?" Triple H looked down at him, a little offended that Jeff was laughing at the situation.

"I was just thinking," Jeff grinned tiredly, "I'm glad I brought an extra pair of pants with me."

Hunter laughed as well. "Must have been fate."

When his laughter had calmed down, Jeff dared to ask the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind the entire time. "Are you a virgin, Hunter?" the young Hardy asked carefully. "I'm mean, the way I was, before you took it."

Triple H looked away as he seemed to debate within himself of whether to tell Jeff or not.

"No I'm not…" Hunter finally admitted.

Jeff's eyebrows shot up as he wondered who had actually deflowered The Game. "Who was it?"

"That's personal…" Triple H murmured, rubbing the back of his head.

"You just had your dick up my ass. How much more personal can you get?" Jeff chuckled in spite of himself.

"Shawn," Hunter confessed quietly.

Jeff's jaw dropped. "You and Shawn? But I thought you said you didn't because of his wife."

"This was before he was married. It was back in ninety-six when Shawn and I were part of the 'Clique' and I returned the favor to him," Hunter explained with a somewhat wistful sigh.

"So that's why you two have remained so close all this time," Jeff said thoughtfully. "You deflowered each other."

Hunter shrugged. "It wasn't just that, but it was a big starting point for it. No one knows except me and Shawn and Stephie, and now you…" Suddenly, Triple H narrowed his eyes at he young Hardy. "If you tell anyone what went on or was said here I will destroy you."

"As long as you keep up your end of the promise, I won't have to," Jeff assured him. He frowned a little. "Although…"

"What?" The Game growled warningly.

"I should probably tell Matt."

"Why?"

Jeff sighed, looking a little embarrassed. "He's my brother; he'll know something out of the ordinary happened, the minute I walk in the door."

"I see your point," Hunter conceded. "Alright, him, but no one else and make sure his lips are zipped as well."

Jeff nodded firmly. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to take a shower. I'm feeling a little…sticky…"

"Go right ahead, don't mind me," Hunter leaned against the other wall.

"I do mind," Jeff said adamantly. "See the shower is Jeff's relaxation _alone_ time."

"Ah," Hunter chuckled. "In that case I'd better be on my way."

"I take it; you got what you came for?" Jeff said softly, as he shakily stood up.

"Not exactly what I planned," Hunter said, before smirking again. "But I still had a good time. Too bad we won't be doing it again."

"Yeah, too bad," Jeff said dryly.

Triple H stopped in the shower doorway, the Cheshire cat grin on his face again. "Well, if you change your mind, I'm not hard to find."

The Rainbow-haired Warrior shook his head with an amused smile on his face. "I don't think so, even if I wanted to, you're too dangerous even for a risk-taker like me. I don't want to play with The Game more than I have to. I might lose big time."

"I definitely underestimated you Hardy," The Game said. He came back into the room and wrapped one arm around Jeff's waist, this time taking extra care not to aggravate the young Hardy's back. He gave Jeff a tender, rather chaste kiss on the lips. "Good luck at the Royal Rumble." And with that Hunter left.

Jeff just stood there for a few minutes trying to sort out just how to feel about the experience. He wasn't happy about what Hunter had inevitably made him do, yet at the same time he didn't feel used. There were moments he hated and moments when he actually enjoyed it a little. If he had to lose his virginity, at least it was to the King of Kings.

If it had been the young Hardy's very first sexual experience it might have been very traumatizing, but he was a veteran, he decided to take it as a learning experience as to how to safely play one of Hunter's games if he had no other choice in the future. He was proud of himself at how well he had had mentally kept himself from being broken and conquered by The Game.

The Rainbow-haired warrior felt a smile creep across his face at the memory of Triple H acknowledging that he had won. That made it all worth it.

000

_This little one-shot popped into my head after I watch Jeff and Triple H's match at Armageddon 2007. I wondered how Triple H might react to his loss to Hardy. Like Hunter said anger towards someone and admiration for them are both very powerful feelings. So how do deal with such contrasting, yet powerful feelings?_

_This is also kind of a response to some of the other Jeff Hardy/Triple H fics. In a lot of them I thought, Hunter was a little too much of a sadist. Sure he can be man who likes to be master over people, but he is also smart enough to know that if he goes too far with his antics outside of the ring, he could get in big trouble. Also, he likes to play games, it's too easy just to force himself on someone, anybody can do that with a gun or drugs or too much alcohol. Hunter would play his game so the target would agree to it. _

_Also a lot of the fics portrayed Jeff as a helpless victim, often times naïve. Jeff is a lot of things, but after being in the WWE and around people like Hunter for some time, he's not naïve. Even in his younger days. On top of that, he's a fighter, even if he was naïve and found himself in a bad situation because of it, he would fight all the way to get himself out of it. He'd have to be either unconscious or drugged up, to just give up. When I say fighting I don't just mean throwing punches, it also means getting out of a situation the best way you can, even if it means compromising. Jeff's smart enough to beat someone at their own game. Fighting means you survive, you don't give up just because you think it's hopeless or futile. Jeff is definitely a survivor._

_Okay, I think I've rambled enough here. I hope you enjoyed the story! Please review, I hope I got Jeff and Triple H's characters mostly right in this, despite my views. so I'm really curious to see how I did._

_Thank you!_

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	2. Chapter 2

_NOTE: "Between Outrage and Admiration" was intended us to be a one-shot, but Jeff/ Triple H plot bunnies keep biting me so we'll see what happens. This thing just might end up being a collection of short one or two chapter stories._

_We'll see…_

_ANOTHER NOTE: Yes I know, Jeff has been documented as saying he does not like skittles and doesn't know where that came from. I think it came from the fact that he dyes his hair the color of skittles. But I'm going to take some creative license here and keep it, because I think this is a cute, harmless quirk that doesn't really add or subtract anything from his character and makes for a good comedy insert from time to time. _

000

""_I hope if dogs take over the world, and they choose a __**king**__, they don't just go by size, because I bet there are some Chihuahuas with some good ideas.__"_

Jack Handy quotes

000

Jeff sighed wearily as he entered his hotel room. His whole backside ached, not only from his match with Triple H, but also from their activities in the locker room afterwards.

He tossed his bag and then himself on to his bed. He was exhausted and looking forward to a good night's sleep. Unfortunately, he'd forgotten he was not alone in the room. 

"Hey, where have you been?" Matt came out of the bathroom when he heard his brother enter, "We're supposed to be celebrating you kicking Triple H's ass for a number 1 contender spot."

_I may have kicked his ass, but he fucked mine,_ Jeff thought, chuckling a little inwardly. However, he wasn't quite ready to tell his older brother what had gone on between him and Hunter earlier. "Meh. Took me longer to get cleaned up than I thought, a lot of sweat you know, and my hair dye was starting to come out a little."

"Ah," Matt nodded. "Important stuff to take care of, we don't want the future champion to look disheveled even before he celebrates."

"I don't know if I'm up to it tonight man," Jeff sighed tiredly.

"You? Not want to party?" Matt raised an eyebrow at him, before putting a hand on his little brother's forehead. "Are you coming down with something? Your lower abdomen isn't hurting is it?"

"Nah. I'm just tired, Hunter wore me out." Jeff yawned. _In more ways than one…_

Matt narrowed his eyes at Jeff, he knew there was something beyond what his brother was telling him was telling him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine, I'm just tired," Jeff insisted. _Aw man I knew it…He's already picked up the trail. Might as well get it over with…_

A moment of silence passed as Jeff thought over how he was going to tell Matt what happened. Meanwhile, his older brother's hand moved from his forehead to his lower back and began rubbing it gently.

"Um… Matt?" Jeff finally murmured, sitting up.

"Hm?" Matt looked over at him.

"How mad could you possibly get at me if I told you I did something that sounds really bad but was necessary to do?" Jeff asked in a small voice. 

Matt raised an eyebrow and gave his little brother a warning look. "What have you done?"

"Um…" Jeff looked away, thinking over his words carefully. "Not so much what I did, I just sort of…agreed to it…"

"Agreed to what?" Matt asked more nervously, than angry. "You're not mixed up in anything illegal are you?"

"No, no not, illegal," Jeff waved his hands defensively then stopped when a thought occurred to him. "Well at least I don't think so, but every state has different laws about it." 

"Jeff..." Matt furrowed his brow in confusion. "What are you getting at?"

"It's hard to say…" Jeff murmured

Matt scooted over to sit closer to him. "What is?" Matt said softly starting to put the pieces together. "You slept with someone, didn't you?"

The younger Hardy brother nodded guiltily. 

Matt gasped a little as it hit him. "They're married and that's why you're worried it's illegal."

Jeff nodded again.

"Jeff…" Matt sighed in a disapproving manner, worrying a little that his brother might be spiraling down the crazy road he had before.

"Well I didn't exactly want to, it just kind of happened," Jeff shrugged his shoulders helplessly. At the continued look of disapproval from his older brother he continued his defense. "Look I didn't have much of a choice... I made the best agreement I could."

"What are you talking about? How could a woman put you in that situation?" Matt scoffed until a thought occurred to him and his mouth fell open in shock. "Oh my god it was Stephanie McMahon wasn't it?"

"No! It wasn't Stephanie!" Jeff quickly protested.

Matt sighed in relief.

"It was her husband," Jeff finally confessed.

Matt's face went blank as if he had just been slapped so hard his nerves lost all sensation. "What…?" 

Jeff let out a weary groan as he grabbed his stunned brother by the arm and dragged him into the bathroom. Somehow the small confines of the tiled room felt like a more secure place to reveal the secret. 

He decided it was best to just lay it all out on the table and he told his older brother everything that had happened. When he had finished, the younger Hardy had to grab his brother's shoulders to keep him from falling over from shock.

Jeff guided the practically catatonic Matt out to sit on one of the beds.

"Matt," Jeff snapped his fingers in front of his brother's face. "Stay with me man."

Matt blinked and then his brow furrowed and his face contorted in anger. Jeff gulped and took a step back, beginning to doubt whether telling the truth was such a good idea after all.

"That son of a bitch!" Matt growled. "I can't believe he did that to you!"

Jeff let out a small sigh of relief that his brother's anger was not aimed at him. However, he knew he had to calm Matt down before his brother took it into his head to haul off and attack Triple H.

"Let it go Matt it wasn't all that bad," Jeff said quietly.

Matt looked at his brother in surprise then looked like he might throw-up at any moment. "Don't tell me you enjoyed it…" 

"I don't know…" Jeff murmured picking at his finger nails. "I don't feel violated or anything, I suppose I should," He shrugged. "But I don't…"

Matt found himself at a loss for words, still partly in denial that Jeff had just had sex with Triple H. 

Jeff sighed and plunked down next to Matt. "I don't know, maybe it was because he kinda opened up to me during it."

Matt raised an eyebrow in further disbelief. "He did?"

"He told me about his fling with Shawn back in '96," Jeff shrugged. " Or maybe I don't feel so bad because I won the little game he was playing with me."

Matt closed his eyes and shook his head as if trying to pretend that he wasn't hearing what he was hearing. "You were playing a game with The Game, with sex as the stakes?" He couldn't believe Jeff would be so foolhardy, but then he remembered the difficult position Jeff had described being in before. Perhaps playing the game may have been Jeff's only option. Matt swallowed his disgust and managed a weak smile before giving his brother a playful shove. "Why can't you play poker like everyone else...?"

"Well you know me," Jeff grinned smugly. "I don't do things like everyone else."

"Very funny," the older Hardy laughed weakly.

"Well at least we know I won't get pregnant from this little affair," Jeff teased.

Matt couldn't hold it in any longer and burst out laughing.

000

Some time later, about a week before Valentine's Day, Jeff Hardy was right in the middle of his morning routine, when there was a loud knock on his hotel room door.

He opened the door to find Triple H standing there, someone he hoped to never encounter alone or anywhere outside of the ring again.

"Oh God…What are you doing here?" Jeff groaned.

"Nice to see you too Jeff," Hunter grinned. "I have a favor to ask you, I promise to do you a favor in return."

"What kind of favor?" The younger Hardy asked warily, knowing just what Hunter was capable of asking for, promise or no promise.

"Um… Well…" Hunter looked a little embarrassed. "I need some help with a gift for Stephanie for Valentine's Day." 

"Why do you need me?" Jeff raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm the weird one remember?"

"Yeah," Triple H shrugged. "But you're also very creative and it's that creativity that I need."

Jeff frowned and crossed his arms over his chest glaring daggers at Hunter. "If you think I'm going to use my creativity for some sex game you want to play. You can forget it right now!" He moved to slam the door right into Hunter's face. 

Triple H actually looked startled at the implications Jeff had made, but managed to recover in time to stop the door from shutting. "No! That's not what I meant! I want to give her a poem or a piece of art or something." 

Jeff looked at Hunter as if he had suddenly grown three heads. "So let me get this straight. You're asking me, a guy you practically forced into having a one night stand with you less than a month ago, to write a romantic poem to your wife for Valentine's Day?" 

Hunter shrugged casually. "Yeah, can you do it?"

Jeff's mouth fell open in astonishment. He simply couldn't believe that after everything that had happened between them, Hunter had the gall to ask this of him. 

The young Hardy was about to refuse and slam the door in Triple H's face, but hesitated when a thought occurred to him. A favor for a favor? With the Elimination chamber at "No Way Out" looming overhead, being on The Game's good side wouldn't be a bad idea.

"Well?" Hunter prodded after a moment of silence from Jeff.

Jeff sighed resignedly. "All right I'll make a Valentine's Day present for Stephanie."

"You will?" Hunter beamed at him. "Thanks man! I owe you one."

"Yeah, you do," Jeff said dryly. "I'll have them ready on Valentine's Day. You can pick them up then." 

And with that he shut the door in Hunter's face before The Game could say anything more…

000

The morning of Valentine's Day found Jeff putting the final touches on the painting he was making for Hunter. His most recent media choice were watercolor pencils, they simulated real painting, but were much more transportable than real paints, which was a good thing for an artist who was constantly on the road like Jeff was.

Jeff had his iPod on so loud he almost didn't hear a knock at the door. He took the white earbuds out of his ears and listened. Sure enough, there was another loud knock at the door. He could guess who it was.

His suspicions were correct when he opened the door and found Hunter on his doorstep.

"Hey Jeff," Triple H greeted him cordially. "How's it coming?"

"The poem is done," Jeff answered. "I just have to put some finishing touches on the painting."

"Oh Good!" Hunter pushed excitedly past Jeff and walked over to the table to have a look at the painting, much to the chagrin of Jeff who didn't like people looking at his unfinished works. "Hey, this is nice! Is that supposed to be me and Steph?"

"Yup," Jeff nodded, closing the door before coming over. "I fell asleep watching the history Channel a few days ago. They were showing a thing about Greek Gods and Goddesses, it gave me some ideas."

"So which gods are we?" Hunter asked curiously. 

"Ares and Aphrodite," Jeff smirked, curious himself to Hunter's reaction.

"The God of War and the Goddess of Love," Hunter laughed. "Perfect. Steph is going to love this."

"Yeah, she'll like it even better when I've finished," Jeff said sitting back down in the chair. 

"How much more do you have to do?" Hunter asked.

"Some more detailing, shadows, that sort of thing to flesh it out more," Jeff answered, wetting another pencil.

"I'll just wait then," Hunter sat down on one of the beds, and pulled out his PDA. "I've got some business to do anyway."

Jeff shrugged. "Suit yourself, but keep it quiet."

"No problem."

They worked in silence for about an hour, until Hunter was finished with his business. He sighed and rested back against the pillows. He looked over at Jeff who was still working diligently on the painting and was about to ask how it was coming, but decided not to distract Jeff.

Hunter sat on the edge of the bed and debated about what to do next to occupy himself until Jeff was finished. His eyes fell on Jeff's jacket sitting on a nearby chair. 

Seeing Jeff was too engrossed in his painting to notice anything else, he quietly reached over and grabbed to the jacket. He ran his hand across the fabric imagining Jeff was there under his hands. He lifted the jacket up to his nose and inhaled. 

It was true. Smell was the strongest scent tied to memory, and oh what memories there were. The scent immediately brought back the memories of him and Jeff's liaison in the locker room just after Armageddon. The jacket smelled just the same as the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's scent had been that day. It was a mixture of peroxide, sweat, with just a hint of skittles. 

Meanwhile, Jeff had paused his painting to stretch his shoulders. He looked over to see what Hunter was up to and found what seemed to be The Game sniffing his jacket. 

He rolled his eyes and groaned before he walked over and asked for the coat back. However, Hunter seemed to be too wrapped up in his memories and the blossoming lust brought on by the scent of the jacket and paid no heed to Jeff's request. The younger Hardy grumbled to himself and with a swift jerk, pulled the coat away.

At having something he was enjoying snatched away, Hunter's mind glazed over with a lust fueled anger. He grabbed Jeff and captured the younger Hardy's lips with his own. Hunter had the element of surprise on his side as well. At the shock of the sudden assault, Jeff's mouth fell open a little, allowing Triple H to thrust his tongue into the sweet depths of the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's mouth.

However it did not take long for Jeff to recover, he brought up a hand and slapped Hunter freeing his mouth from The Game's pleasurable trap. 

"Snap out of it!" Jeff shouted, giving Hunter another hard slap across the face for good measure.

Hunter blinked several times, broken from the lusty haze by the blows Jeff had delivered.

"Uh," Hunter began as he rubbed his sore cheek. He at least had the grace to look embarrassed. "I...I don't know what came over me...I'm ummm... Sorry, Jeff."

Jeff took in a deep breath and shook his head. "Get out, just get out."

"Look, I'm sorry," Hunter insisted, looking genuinely apologetic. 

Jeff would have none of it. "I said get out!"

"But Jeff…" Hunter protested.

"I promise I'll bring the painting and the poem wherever it needs to be, but I can't concentrate and finish it with you here." The younger Hardy snapped angrily. "Now get out!"

Triple H frowned. He was done being apologetic, very few people talked to him like that and he wasn't going to add Jeff to that list. 

"Fine!" The Game turned to leave, but stopped at the door. "Just have the painting in my room in an hour!"

"I'll bring it when it's finished!" The Rainbow Haired Warrior shouted back defiantly.

"I said an hour!" Triple H growled.

"I can't finish it in an hour, you want to give your wife unfinished painting?" Jeff challenged.

Hunter closed his eyes and grimaced knowing that Jeff had him there. This whole thing was about Stephanie, not them. "No…" He grumbled.

Jeff took in a deep breath and let it out, calming himself down. Shouting back and forth would only make things worse. "Look you said the McMahon Valentine's day party is at 5:00pm I know I can have it done by then. Where's it going to be?"

"In Ballroom A at the Bellagio," Hunter answered coldly.

"All right, I'll be by at five to give you the stuff, and that'll be the end of it. I'll…" Jeff paused, coming to a decision. "I'll forget what just happened here…"

The anger on Hunter's face melted away at the truce offered, he even managed a small smile. "Okay. I'll see you at 5 then."

Jeff nodded, but didn't fully relax until Hunter had left and closed the door behind him….

000

_Oh what will happen at the Valentine's Day party….? Particularly after Jeff has one too many drink s in him and it's up to Hunter to look after him in his drunken state._


	3. Chapter 3

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

000

Later that night, Jeff Hardy walked up to the large Ballroom that had been rented out for the McMahon Valentine's Day party. At the entrance stood two rather large security guards who looked down at Jeff as if he were some sort of hoodlum intent on robbing the casino. Not that Jeff could blame then, he'd had little time after having to wait for the painting to dry then wrapping it up. He'd then dashed to the Bellagio from Caesar's Palace where some of the wrestlers were residing for the PPV. The paint stains were as clear as day on his blue jeans and the tips of his fingers, with his purple dyed hair was pulled back into a messy knot. At the very least, since his jacket was black the paint there wasn't quite so obvious. 

One of the guards held a clipboard firmly in his hand, which Jeff guessed was the guest list.

"Your name sir?" The security guard asked gruffly.

"Jeff Hardy," Jeff answered firmly. The guard said nothing and flipped through the pages of the list. The younger Hardy sighed and shook his head. "Look man, I'm just here to deliver a painting to Hunter Helmsley."

The guard stopped at a certain page, picked up his highlighter and made a small mark on the page. "Well you are on the list, though this is a black tie affair, I suggest you change your attire before going in."

Jeff bristled a little at the condescending tone the security guard was leveling him with, even if the words were true.

"Aw shucks, and here I left my best tux at the cleaners," Jeff said dryly, stepping past the security guard and into the room. 

He was greeted with the sight of a truly grand ballroom with a crystal chandelier, Persian carpets, and a giant ice sculpture in the middle of the food table. It was full of people mingling and chattering, with waiters bustling about with trays full of Martinis and other assorted drinks.

Jeff immediately felt a little self conscious seeing the fine clothes everyone else was wearing while he was there in his paint stained jeans, tank top and his favourite coat which had definitely seen better days. In other words he stuck out like a sore thumb and wanted nothing more than to drop off the present and get the hell out of there. 

Normally Jeff didn't take people's opinions on how he looked too much to heart, but this was a party that his boss Vince McMahon was throwing, which put Jeff more on edge.

Fortunately, he finally spotted a table at the far end where there were other beautifully wrapped gifts. He quickly made his way over, trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, walking along the outside wall of the room. He carefully set the painting on the table, and placed the envelope with the poem in it next to the painting.

Jeff turned to try and sneak out the way he came in, when he ran right into Hunter.

"Hey there Skittles," The Game greeted him, holding out a martini.

"Thanks," Jeff said a little nervously, knowing that his departure was going to be delayed. Even still he accepted the martini and took a big gulp, hoping a nice alcohol fix would take the edge off his nervousness.

Hunter raised an eyebrow at Jeff inhaling the first Martini and grabbing a second from a tray passing by. "Take it easy there tiger, there's a whole night ahead of us."

Now it was Jeff's turn to raise an eyebrow. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well you're sticking around for the party, aren't you?" Hunter grinned.

"Um, No," Jeff said taking a gulp of the second Martini. "I didn't even know I was invited, until a few minutes ago."

"Well you are it's the least I can do for the great job you did, and…" Hunter lowered his voice. "And for the little mishap this afternoon."

"It's a nice gesture Hunter, but I can't." Jeff looked away.

"Why not? You're not still mad are you?"

"No, it's just that…" Jeff paused, rubbing the back of his head a little embarrassed. "I'm not exactly dressed for it. I feel grungy, I need to take a shower, and I'm covered in paint..."

Hunter laughed and a knowing smile spread across his face. "I figured you would be. Come on."

With that he grabbed Jeff's wrist and dragged him toward the bathroom at the other end of the room. It was one of those big luxurious bathrooms with, marble sinks, real hand towels to dry your hands instead of paper, and a bathroom attendant. 

"Hey, George," Hunter called to the attendant. "Looks like I need my bag after all."

"Yes sir," the attendant nodded before he opened a cupboard and pulled out a leather duffel bag.

Triple H took the bag and handed it to Jeff. "Here Cinderella, put on whatever's in this bag."

Jeff looked down at the bag and then back at Hunter a little uncertain. "Uh Hunter, in case you haven't noticed you're just a little bit bigger than me. What makes you think this is going to fit me?"

"By clever use of a belt and a lot of tucking in," Taker said matter-of-factly.

Jeff gave a defeated shrug and entered the bathroom stall. A few minutes later he emerged dressed in the clothes Hunter had given him. The pants fit alright, but the shirt looked a little lopsided and big, since Jeff's shoulders were not nearly as broad as Hunter's.

"See I told you this wouldn't work," The younger Hardy groaned as he looked at himself in the mirror.

"Maybe if you tucked it in a little bit more?" Hunter offered.

"It's tucked into my socks, Hunter," Jeff grumbled.

"Hmmm..." Hunter mulled the question over for a bit, and then snapped his fingers when he got an idea. "Were you wearing another tank top or something under the jersey with all the paint on it?"

"Yeah…" Jeff answered slowly, not quite sure where Hunter was going with this. "I don't think that's going to add anymore bulk."

"Never mind that," Hunter ushered him back toward the stall. "Take my shirt off, put the tank top on and come back out here."

The younger Hardy grumbled under his breath, but did as he was told and soon came back out with the pants and the clean black tank top. The top and the pants matched Jeff's figure well, making him look fresh and streamline, almost model-esque.

"Looking better already," Hunter said as he wet his hands at the sink. "Now if we can just…" Triple H used his wet hands to slick back Jeff's hair into a tight, sleek, ponytail. 

"Not so tight…" Jeff hissed pulling his hair out looser.

Hunter frowned and tightened the ponytail back up. "Now look, in order for this to work it's got to be tight so just deal with it. Pain is beauty."

"Pain is pain Hunter," Jeff growled, pulling his hair loose again.

"Thanks, but I really hate having my hair pulled back that tightly." Jeff, ever defiant, loosened the ponytail again. "And I have enough pain from my herniated discs I don't need my head hurting too."

"But Jeff…" Hunter reached to tighten it again. 

Jeff turned around to prevent Hunter from getting to the ponytail. "Touch my ponytail one more time, and I'm leaving this party. And I mean it, Hunter."

Hunter held up his hands in surrender. "Fine, Fine just giving you some friendly advice."

"Fine, and since it is advice I can take it or leave it." Jeff said as he started for the door. "Ready to go back to the party?"

Hunter nodded and opened the door for Jeff getting a nice gander at Jeff's ass as he walked by.

"Well I hope you find the rest of this evening somewhat amusing," Hunter sighed as they walked back out into the crowd.

Jeff pulled another martini off a tray, and took a big gulp. "Well, I'll just keep drinking till it is."

000

Over the course of an hour and a half champagne replaced the martinis and Hunter had lost track of Jeff when Vince called Hunter over to meet someone. Soon enough Jeff had wandered off and Hunter had lost sight of him in the crowd.

After not seeing Jeff for awhile Hunter assumed he'd left the party, finding out he was wrong when he saw the younger man coming out of the bathroom. Jeff, spotting Hunter as well made the trek over to him swaying slightly as he walked. It was obvious that the Rainbow Haired Warrior was a little tipsy.

"Hey, 'H'," Jeff greeted him with a lopsided grin. "Wazzup, man? Did you get taller?"

At this point Hunter realized Jeff wasn't just tipsy, he was completely loaded. Discretely, Triple H led the drunken young Hardy over to a chair in the corner of the room.

"Why don't you have a seat right here Jeff?" Hunter offered.

"Why?" The young Hardy queried, looking genuinely confused. "Then I would just have to get up again and that'll make me even dizzier."

"Jeff, just how much did you drink after those three martinis you had earlier?" Hunter raised an eyebrow at him.

"Four Champagnes," Jeff said raising four fingers as if to further prove his point.

"Oh boy…" Hunter pinched the bridge of his nose. To those inexperienced in drinking of champagne, it tended to have a delayed reaction in comparison to other alcohols, but when it did hit, it came all at once. Plus having three martinis on top of it would put the average person in a coma. However, Jeff was not the average person.

"I think I drank too much…" Jeff admitted rubbing his temples while he swayed a little. Suddenly he stopped and looked at Hunter as intently as his drunken eyes could muster. "Or…"

"Or what?" Triple H asked, curious to see where Jeff was going with this.

Jeff smiled drunkenly and leaned on Hunter a little before saying quietly. "You slipped something into my drink when I wasn't looking..."

The Game rolled his eyes. "Jeff, I haven't even been near you for the last hour and a half. You just drank more than you should. Just because it's free doesn't mean you have to drink the bar under the table."

"Hunter I gotta tell you a secret," Jeff motioned for Triple H to lean closer.

"What?" Hunter leaned closer.

The young Hardy whispered into Hunter's ear as if it were something of the utmost secrecy. "I used to be afraid of ladders..."

It took all of Hunter's self control not to burst out laughing, but he did let a little snigger escape. "Yeah?"

Jeff nodded, and since he was close to Hunter's ear, The Rainbow-Haired Warrior sniffing the larger man's hair. "You smell nice."

Hunter's sniggering came to an abrupt end, and he pushed the young Hardy away enough to hold him at an arm's length. "Okay, Jeff this is not the time or the place for this. Now wait here for minute, I'm going to get us some coffee."

However, younger Hardy grabbed Hunter's arm. "But I'll be lonely if you leave me man."

At that point, Hunter decided leaving Jeff alone, even for a few minutes was not such a good idea. "On second thought I think it's time for you to go back to your room, and sleep off the alcohol."

Jeff grinned and held on to Hunter's arm as The Game led him toward the exit. "Yeah?" He said slyly. "Are you propositioning me?"

"Nah," Hunter answered, continuing to usher Jeff out of the lounge. "I think you've had enough fun for one night."

"Awe… man…" Jeff pouted, still hanging off Hunter's arm. "I thought the real fun was about to begin."

Hunter sighed somewhat woefully as they got into the elevator. Here Jeff was practically begging for it, but he had promised the young Hardy it one fuck and only one. "As much as I would love to get my hands on you, I made a promise to you and I'm going to keep it."

"I'll never tell if you do..." Jeff said huskily.

Triple H rolled his eyes. "You only want to have fun with me cause you're drunk off your ass…"

"I want to have fun, because I think you're hot," Jeff murmured seductively into Hunter's ear as he pressed his body up against the larger man's.

It was taking every ounce of The Game's self control not to rip the young Hardy's clothes off and take him right there in the elevator. "Thanks but I'm not in the mood right now," He tried to push Jeff away, but ended up shoving the boy a little too hard.

Jeff hit the back wall rather hard, and looked back at Triple H with a shocked and hurt expression on his face. Tears appeared in the young Hardy's eyes and spilled down his cheeks. "You hate me don't you!"

Hunter let out a patient sigh and took Jeff's face inbetween his hands. "No Jeff I don't hate you. if I did, I'd just tear our clothes off, fuck you till you screamed, and leave you in a mess right here in the elevator for some one else to find you just for the added humiliation. That's what I would do if I hated you."

"Oh…" Jeff swallowed the sobs that had been rising in his throat, and calmed down considerably now knowing that Hunter didn't hate him. "I'm sorry for acting like that."

"It's okay," Hunter said, gently wiping away any residual tears with his thumbs. "Contrary to what you think I actually like you, and that's why I can't give into your demands of fun, because I know you would hate me as soon as you were sober. And I wouldn't like that."

The elevator stopped and Hunter led Jeff out, through the lobby, eventually o the front entrance, where Hunter hailed a cab. While Caesar's palace and the Bellagio were right next to each other, the large, sprawling expanse of the two hotels made the walk a lot longer than you'd think. Plus, Triple H needed to get the young Hardy home and get back to the party quickly.

When they finally made it up to Jeff's hotel room, the young hardy seemed to be more sober. He was walking straight and his demeanor was much quieter, apparently the drowsiness caused by alcohol was starting to set in.

Hunter spotted the card key sticking out of the back pocket of Jeff's pants. Carefully he reached in and took the card.

"Oh…Hunter…" Jeff purred with a chuckle as he felt The Game's hand slide into his back pocket.

"What?" Hunter asked, not picking up on the connotation in Jeff's voice.

Instead of answering Jeff turned around and wrapped his hands around Hunter's neck and kissed him. The Game was surprised by Jeff's action; apparently he was not as sober as Hunter thought. Automatically Hunter started kissing back, but caught himself before it went too far and broke the kiss.

"Jeffie, Jeffie," Hunter sighed as he opened the door. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Fuck me silly?" Jeff grinned as they walked into the room, still with his arms around The Game's neck.

"Don't tempt me," Hunter growled on the verge of losing some of his already strained self-control. He tried to pry the young Hardy off him, however the move backfired and they both and fell over onto one of the beds, with Triple H on top.

To make things worse, Jeff tilted his head up to kiss Hunter again. 

The Game couldn't hold back anymore. He kissed back with equal fervor, his tongue dancing the dance of desire with Jeff's. The lust began to rise in him, and the feel of Jeff's warm wonton body beneath his was driving him crazy. He broke the kiss with Jeff's lips and started kissing down the young Hardy's neck. 

"Why do you torture me like this Hardy?" He rasped between kisses.

"Torture…?" Jeff murmured drowsily between kisses.

Hunter slid his hands down Jeff's torso, then back up again, this time underneath Jeff's shirt. "I want you every time I see you, every time I think of you." His voice grew more husky and wonton as he ran his hands over the lean muscled flesh of Jeff's abdomen and came to rest on the waistline of Jeff's pants. "But I can't have you..."

"Yes you can..." Jeff whispered sleepily.

"You made me promise..." Hunter hissed, the last piece of his conscience crying out, but it fell on the deaf ears of lust. "Oh fuck the promise, you want it right?"

The Game didn't wait for an answer as he began unbuckling Jeff's pants. Once that was done he kissed Jeff's abdomen as he began to unzip his pants. A pleasured moan escaped the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's lips. 

Hunter grinned at the reaction and he began to slide the pants down the young Hardy's legs. He looked back up for Jeff's reaction to that, only to find the young Hardy fast asleep. 

"Jeff?" Hunter prodded vocally. 

His only response was Jeff's soft snores. The Game let out an annoyed groan. "Aw man... He was just drunk after all..." In all honesty Hunter felt weird about banging someone who was completely passed out. Apart from it being tantamount to rape, it was no fun screwing someone who was totally unresponsive. 

He untied Jeff's shoes and took them off. Then he finished removing the young Hardy's pants. However, instead of going any further, he merely threw the covers over Jeff and tucked him in. 

Hunter gazed at the sleeping Hardy for a few fleeting seconds before tenderly kissing the Rainbow-Haired Warrior on the lips, before leaving the room…

000

_Hehehe! I had a lot of fun writing this. As kind of a parody I had drunken Jeff act like how Jeff is usually portrayed in slash fiction, sex addict, overly emotional, and/or kinda Hunter's little toy. All of which he is not, unless he is really, really plastered,three Martinis and four glasses of champagne will do that to you._

_I have a feeling this is not the end of Jeff and Hunter's awkward relationship... _


	4. Chapter 4

_NOTE: I'm sure you all know by now of the personal tragedies and setbacks for Jeff Hardy. I just want to let you know I that I will continue my stories as if these had not happened. The reason being I consider the person we see on the TV and the real life Jeff Hardy to be separate, just like any other character and movie actor, even though their personalities are so similar. I believe it is not right to involve Jeff's real personal life and trials in fiction. The one exception I make is the personal stuff shown on the , and that is because this is stuff Matt and Jeff CHOOSE to show to the public on the internet which makes it akin to WWE programming. The Jeff Hardy I portray is based on the character portrayed by the WWE and on the HardyShow, a strong person with a good heart deep down, who has made mistakes in the past, but seems to be keeping his personal demons conquered. It's almost like in fiction I can create the happy endings that I wish Jeff could have in his real life. I have said my peace and that is all._

_On with the story._

000

Matt sighed contentedly as he slid the key card in the lock slot and unlocked the door to the room he shared with Jeff. The older Hardy arrived in Vegas that afternoon to lend some moral support to Jeff at "No Way out", that would be taking place that Sunday, and to have some good old fashioned Vegas fun.

When the older Hardy opened the door he found the room still dark. The only light were the slight rays of sun peaking through the folded blinds. His gaze fell on one of the beds, which had a very familiar looking lump in it.

Matt looked down at his watch and saw that it was nearly one o'clock in the afternoon, he let out soft chuckle and shook his head as he walked over to the blinds and pulled them open. A loud groan erupted from the "lump" on the bed as shifted to try and escape the intruding light. "Go away…"

The older Hardy chuckled again and tugged at the strands of purple hair that stuck out from the mound of bedding. "Wakey-Wakey Jeffie…"

The lump groaned again and rolled away from the offending hand. Matt rolled his eyes, the amused smile still on his face. The amused smile turned into an evil smirk and he jerked back the covers, completely unveiling his little brother to the bright sun.

Jeff grimaced and curled into a ball as his protective covering was ripped away. He grabbed a pillow and covered his head with it. "Ah, man… go away…"

"Uh-oh sounds like someone body's got himself a little bit of a hangover," Matt teased, raising his voice to torture Jeff some more.

The younger Hardy bother pulled the pillow tighter around his head. "Stop shouting…"

Matt chuckled softly and decided to show some mercy, in favor of finding out what exactly went on last night. He sat down on the bed next to his little brother and patted him on the arm.

"All right, what happened?" The older Hardy asked softly, keeping his voice at a level that would not hurt Jeff's head.

"Dang if I know..." Jeff slowly lifted the pillow and looked at his brother tiredly. "I remember bringing the painting down to Hunter, him dragging me off to the bathroom to change into some nicer clothes, and after a few martinis it all got kinda fuzzy from there..."

The amused look disappeared from Matt's face. "You were around Hunter while you were drunk?!"

"Stop shouting Matt!" Jeff pleaded, covering his ears.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry..." Matt lowered his voice once more, but kept the same harsh, warning tone. "But Jeff that was stupid to be around him in that state, he probably took advantage of you."

Jeff shrugged. "Well, my ass isn't hurting, that's a good sign."

Matt grumbled at how lightly Jeff was taking this. "Still that was stupid Jeff; you might not be so lucky next time!"

"Matt, I'm a big boy and I can take care of myself." Jeff groaned as he knew his older brother was heading for a lecture, on responsibility.

"Well you didn't take very good care of yourself last night considering you loaded yourself up to a blackout around a man who molested and practically raped you barely a month ago!" Matt snapped, although he looked more worried than angry at Jeff this time.

The younger man sighed and buried his face into his pillow, knowing deep down that his older brother was right.

Matt sighed patiently and patted his little brother on the head. "Just be more careful next time, Hunter can be a dangerous guy when he sets his mind to it."

Jeff lifted his head from the pillow and nodded, and then yawned and rubbed his aching head. "Got any Tylenol?"

"Yeah, but why don't you go take a shower first, it might help to clear out the cobwebs." Matt pulled Jeff out of bed.

"Not a bad idea," Jeff yawned again as he meandered into the bathroom.

It was not long after Jeff stepped into the shower and turned on the water that there was a loud knock at the door. Matt answered it and found Triple H standing there. Even though Hunter had not taken advantage of Jeff the previous night Matt still had not forgiven Hunter for his conduct toward Jeff after Armageddon 2007. With such animosity still poised at Triple H, the older Hardy brother greeted him with a cold, "What do you want?"

Hunter was a little taken aback by the iciness of Matt's voice, but in favor of keeping the peace, he brushed it aside. "I was just wondering if Jeff's alright. He was pretty wasted last night."

"He's taking a shower, he's a little bit hung-over, but I've seen him worse." Matt shrugged casually, but kept his gaze stern. "Do you know how he got back to his room last night?"

"I helped him back when I saw that he was really out it." Hunter said plainly.

Matt folded his arms across his chest and leveled the older man with an intense glare. "And what else?"

Hunter held up both hands defensively, but spoke calmly. "Nothing... absolutely nothing happened."

Matt closed his eyes and took in a deep breath and let it out before stepping out into the hallway with Hunter and closed the door part way behind him. He opened his eyes; none of the intensity from before had diminished.

" I have no choice but to believe you. Maybe this whole thing between you and Jeff is perfectly innocent," Matt's gaze softened for a few seconds, but then grew even harsher. "But I swear to God Hunter if you are playing some kind of sick game with my little brother, I don't care who the fuck you are, if you are in this just to hurt him or humiliate him, for your own sick pleasure. I will hunt you down and rip off each and every one of your appendages starting with your dick!"

Hunter's mouth fell open in shock at the sheer nerve the older Hardy had to talk to him like that. He growled and glared back at Matt, but managed to bite off a retort when the door opened behind matt, to reveal Jeff.

The younger Hardy brother was wearing one towel wrapped around his waist and drying his hair with another towel. Hunter couldn't keep himself looking over Jeff's body several times, following several water droplets as they wound there way down Jeff's lean form.

Matt's expression darkened when he noticed Triple H was virtually ripping off Jeff's towel with his eyes.

Jeff glanced between Hunter and Matt and could easily read the bad vibes between them. The younger Hardy folded his arms across his chest and gave his older brother a stern, but slightly amused look. "You yelled at him didn't you?"

Matt immediately had the expression of a child that been caught with his hand in the cookie jar and looked away. "No…"

"Look at me when you lie to me, Matt…" Jeff let out an exasperated sigh, but still looked somewhat amused.

Matt looked back at Jeff, rolling his eyes. "I didn't really yell… Exactly…"

Hunter gave the older Hardy brother and incredulous look that said, "Like hell you didn't."

"Pay no mind to my brother," Jeff chuckled and patted Matt on the back. "He gets like this whenever he thinks I've done something stupid. It's his big brother instincts, he can't help it."

A small grin crossed Hunter's face. "I guess I can't be too mad then."

For the sake of peace Matt lowered his head, feeling guilty "I'm sorry if I jumped the gun a little bit."

"I guess if I were Jeff's big brother I'd be overprotective too." Hunter shrugged affably. "Jeffie's a pistol."

Matt actually laughed at that. There was one thing both he and Hunter could relate to, understanding how much of a handful Jeff could be sometimes.

Jeff laughed along, a little embarrassed. "Yeah… But that's why y'all love me."

All three shared a laugh, before Hunter turned to leave. "Well I just stopped by to see if Jeff was all right. I guess I'll be on my way then."

"Wait Hunter," Jeff called after him.

The older man stopped and turned back to Jeff. "Yeah?"

"Um, thanks for taking care of me last night." Jeff looked, gratefully. "I underestimated the power of that champagne. Anyone could have taken advantage of me like, I'm glad you had the self-control not to."

Hunter shrugged casually. "Yeah well, there's no fun screwing someone who's unconscious." But then he turned a little more serious. "Also, I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it."

Jeff smirked. "Maybe you're not such an asshole after all. By the way, did Stephanie like the painting?"

"She loved it. She wants to hang it over the fire place in our 'special' den." Hunter smiled.

"Anything to help add some extra spark to a marriage," Jeff chuckled.

"I thank you for that, I got some extra Valentine's Day love for it," Triple H winked. "Speaking of Steph, I need to get back; we're going out for a late lunch together."

"Well don't let me stop you," Jeff nudged him.

Hunter nodded and turned to leave, but as he walked away he stole a glance over his shoulder back at Jeff. Hunter felt a small twinge in his groin when he saw the younger Hardy's towel almost fall from around his waist. Much to the older man's disappointment Jeff managed to catch it before it revealed too much.

Even still, one thing was evident. Hunter's lust for Jeff, the Rainbow-Haired Warrior, had not diminished one bit…

000

_In the next chapter, Hunter has an interesting proposition for Jeff… What will it be…?_


	5. Chapter 5

"_**NOTE:**__ Even though Mr. Kennedy and Jeff Hardy are rivals in the ring I picture them, actually getting along quite well outside the ring. I read on Matt Hardy's blog that Ken had invited Matt to his wedding, obviously there's a friendship there, so Ken must at the very least be on some kind of good terms with Jeff. Also if you watch the July 31__st__ episode of RAW when Jeff botched the "Whisper in the Wind" you can see Ken broke keyfabe for a moment and tried to catch Jeff, but he was just a split second too late. So in the story Ken Kennedy is a friend of both Hardys._

000

Jeff shivered as he trudged the few blocks back toward the hotel from the arena where the RAW show had taken place that night. Apparently, at the end of February winter was breathing its last breath. Go figure, he picked the one night it would snow in California to take a walk.

_So much for global warming… _

Normally he would've found the snow falling a beautiful sight, but not now when his body ached from the show and he was shivering from the cold. On top of that, the slippery ground made it more difficult and tiring to walk.

The young Hardy was so distracted by his inner grumblings he failed to notice a black limosine pull up along side him, until the person in the limo rolled down the window and called out to him.

"Hey Jeff!"

Jeff turned his head to see the voice belonged to Hunter. "What do you want?" He growled darkly.

"Need a ride?" Hunter offered. "Awful bad weather to be walking around in."

Jeff was conflicted, trying to figure out whether to accept the ride of not. His aching body wanted desperately to get into the nice warm limo to get back to the hotel so he wouldn't have to walk anymore. However his mind was warning him to be apprehensive, this was Triple H and since the other man wasn't driving it gave him the opportunity to pull any trick he wanted to on Jeff.

The danger of being trapped in a car with Hunter outweighed the discomfort of being outside. Jeff turned his head back to the direction he was going, and answered in a calmer voice. "No thanks, I'm fine, it's not that far."

"Jeff…" Hunter gave the Rainbow Haired Warrior a knowing look. "Its snowing and I know you've got to be tired, so quit being stubborn and get in the limo."

"Yeah, right!" Jeff spat. "I bet you have a little more than my health on your mind. I bet all you want to do is reenact our little 'get together' at Armageddon."

Hunter rolled his eyes. "Oh come on, you know I promised I would leave you alone in that respect from now on," At Jeff's continued stand-offish demeanor, Triple H let out let out an exasperated sigh. "I was just offering you a _car _ride back to the hotel so you won't freeze to death. You just seemed so angry with me ever since No Way Out, I want to make it up to you somehow."

"Of course I am! I do you a favor by helping you out with your wife's gift on Valentine's Day, and you turn around give me a pedigree into a chair three nights later," Jeff snapped, glaring icily at Hunter as he walked. "Nice way of returning the favor."

"Jeff... you didn't cash in your favor," Hunter said simply as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "If you said to me "Hunter please don't use a chair on me," then I wouldn't have done. I don't cash in people's favors for them. You see what I'm saying?"

Jeff growled again and turned away. After a few moments, he stopped and turned back, his gaze much softer than before. "I guess I forgive you…"

"Good," Hunter grinned, opening the door for Jeff to get in.

"But my nose is still pissed!" Jeff snapped and kicked the door closed.

With a somewhat satisfied smirk on his face The Rainbow Haired Warrior continued walking down the street.

Hunter growled at the door being slammed in his face and leaned back in the seat. "He's a tough one," He murmured. He looked out the front window of the car and saw Jeff standing at the cross walk. A sly Cheshire cat grin appeared on his face. "Good, I like a challenge."

However, fate seemed to be more on Hunter's side than he thought. For Jeff was so distracted thinking about Hunter he stepped off the curb wrong, slipped and came down badly on his ankle causing him to fall on to the ground in front of the limo. The next thing he knew Hunter was at his side, offering a hand to help him up.

"Are you okay?" The Game asked, taking Jeff's hand.

The younger man had the urge to pull his hand away, but his body won out this time. Now it was not only cold and tired, it was injured too and was practically screaming, _'Get in the goddamn car!'_ Jeff obeyed and allowed Hunter to help him up and guide him over to the limo.

Jeff sat down on one of the long seats and began removing his shoe. Meanwhile, Hunter gathered up a ball of snow before getting into the car. By this time Jeff had his hurt ankle completely uncovered and was examining the injury. Hunter sat down next to him and Jeff pulled his foot away as if The Game were a venomous creature about to bite him.

"Come on," Hunter coaxed, holding out the snow. "Let's get that swelling down."

Jeff swallowed hard and slowly extended his foot out. The younger man winced as the ice touched his flesh and after the swelling went down a little bit Hunter grabbed his own bag which contained extra bandages and tape he always kept just in case. It was important as a wrestler to keep such valuable things around to bind achy joints, and other things if one got creative.

"Why don't you lie back and relax for a bit?" Hunter suggested as he began wrapping Jeff's ankle.

Jeff mulled the idea over for a few seconds, the tiredness in his body winning out again and he slowly lay down on his back. "Don't try any funny stuff."

Hunter chuckled. "I've never seen you so uptight before outside the ring."

"I'm cold, tired and I'm trapped in a car with someone I don't trust who has his hands all over my injured ankle." Jeff said dryly. "Of course I'm uptight."

"You can trust me Jeff," Hunter murmured, patting the side of Jeff's leg.

The Rainbow Haired Warrior sat up and looked at The Game earnestly. "I don't know Hunter, that's the problem. There are times when I think you're a lying slimy snake, like when you slammed my face into that chair after I'd helped you out."

Hunter opened his mouth to protest and reiterate that Jeff had not cashed in his favor, but the younger man cut him off.

"But then there are other times when I think I can trust you," Jeff's face softened. "Like when I was drunk on Valentine's Day and you didn't take advantage of me when you could have."

"That I didn't, though I admit it was really hard when you were practically begging for it," Hunter chuckled a little uneasy at how Jeff would take that admission.

"I can imagine," Jeff murmured. "But it's just that you flip back and forth, so I don't when to trust you and when not to trust you. I don't like that. Do you see where I'm coming from?"

Hunter nodded and idly patted Jeff's leg again, it was then he noticed an intricate ink design creeping out from under younger man's pant leg. He rolled up the fabric further to reveal a tattoo of a dragon on Jeff's calf.

"Cool tattoo," Triple H said, gently tracing the intricate lines with his index finger.

Jeff closed his eyes and shivered slightly at the touch. It was strange that Hunter, The Game, The Cerebral Assassin, The King of Kings, who was known for grinding people into the dust, could be so gentle. It felt both good and uncomfortable at the same time, mainly Jeff felt uncomfortable with the fact that Hunter's touch felt good to him.

Jeff steeled himself and pushed aside those pleasant sensations before speaking, "Um, Hunter… My ankle's farther down…" He said dryly.

Triple H chuckled, "Yeah, but it doesn't have a tattoo on it."

Jeff rolled his eyes and lay back onto the seat. Hunter peered over the younger wrestler's bent knees, and a Cheshire cat grin spread across Hunter's face.

"You shivered before, are you still cold?" Hunter asked slyly, though he made his voice sound concerned.

"Yeah," Jeff lied not wanting to admit that it was Hunter's fingers that had sent the pleasurable tremors. However, the lie proved to be just the answer Triple H was hoping for.

"That's too bad, but I think I can remedy that," The Game said, his grin broadened.

Suddenly, Jeff found Hunter on top of him and the larger wrestler's arms wrapped tightly around him. "Hunter?! What the--?"

"You said you were cold," Hunter replied, raising a hand to gently caress Jeff's cheek. "I heard sharing body heat works real well."

"Yeah, well…" Jeff stammered trying to sound firm even though his resolve was weakening a little as the warmth of Hunter's body against him did feel good. "I didn't expect you to pounce on me, man."

"I'm sorry Jeff," Hunter said smirking, "But I still find you irresistible."

"Hunter, don't…" Jeff tried to push Hunter away but he was at a severe disadvantage what with him lying on his back and his body exhausted from the Elimination Chamber match.

"What's the matter?" Hunter frowned. "I'm not going to do anything, except keep you warm until we get to the hotel nothing more." Suddenly the older man's smirk broadened. "Unless…You want me to do more?"

"No, I don't… But I don't think it matters to you what I want," Jeff grumbled, refusing to give up his struggle.

"Still don't trust me?" Hunter furrowed his brow in annoyance.

Jeff shook his head. "No, man your mood swings faster than a teenage girl on PMS. I can't trust that."

"I'm not that bad." Triple H protested indignantly.

"I just don't think I can understand you," Jeff admitted.

"Then we're not so different. A lot of other people and I can't understand you either." Hunter pointed out seeing a break in the weather. "You're the charismatic Enigma. That's what makes you unique, I want to understand."

"I guess I'll take that as a compliment." Jeff allowed himself a small smile.

"Good," Hunter smiled genuinely back. "Feel better now?"

The young Hardy nodded, his body relaxing a little. "Yeah, quite a bit actually. At least I'm not cold."

"You know…" Hunter said slowly as he tucked back loose strands of Jeff's hair. "It doesn't have to end when we get back to the hotel."

Jeff let out an amused snort. "If you are implying what I think you are implying then no thanks."

"You haven't even heard what my proposition is yet."

"Proposition?" Jeff quirked an eyebrow.

"What would you say if I told you that even if you didn't win The Money in the Bank ladder match you would still get a title shot?" Hunter grinned.

Jeff's mouth fell open, all amusement gone as the gravity of what Hunter was proposing weighed down on him. "In other words, you want another roll in the hay with me in exchange for a title shot?"

"That could be part of it," Triple H said in a more business like voice. "But more than that one time thing, I want you to give in to me on a regular basis and in return I will grant anything you want, that is in my power to give."

"I can't believe I'm hearing this," Jeff gawked. "You wanna have affair with me?"

Hunter rolled his eyes and sighed. "Well if you want to put it layman's terms, yes. Think of it as more of a business relationship, exchanging one favor for another."

"A business relationship?!"

"Did you ever wonder how John Cena really beat me at Wrestlemania 22?" Hunter asked a little curious at Jeff's answer. When the younger man shook his head he continued. "He and I had a little relationship going, as long as he was with me he'd have an easier time keeping his championship, you see? It started around Wrestlemania 22, I made his win look good, it wasn't just a pinfall, it was a submission. Our 'business' dealings kind of tapered off when I had that injury last year but by then he'd learned how to stand on his own two feet."

By this time most of the shock had left Jeff's face and he glared at Hunter intently instead. "So that's what you meant when you said John 'came for you like a river'…"

"Many times actually…" Hunter grinned allowing his mind to wander to the good times he had with John Cena for a few seconds before shifting his attention back to the Jeff. "Well, what do you say? Do you accept my little proposal?"

Jeff sighed and answered gently, but firmly. "No…"

Hunter sat up off of Jeff and looked back at the younger man, truly perplexed. Usually everyone he had propositioned to before, yielded by this point or at least started to become uncertain. Yet Jeff was still adamantly resisting.

"Why not?" Triple H asked. If he knew the reason behind the Rainbow-Haired Warrior's continued refusal then maybe he could find a way around it. However, before Jeff could answer the limo pulled up to the hotel.

"This is my stop," Jeff sighed as he carefully slipped his boot on over his still sore ankle.

Just as he reached to open the door, Triple H grabbed his other arm and pulled him back.

"Easy man!" Jeff snapped.

"Answer me this first. Why won't you accept my proposal?" Hunter demanded.

"It's not me man..." Jeff answered softly, but steadfast. "I don't want my achievements handed to me; I'd get bored if I did. If I'm to be in a relationship with you there's got to be something in there, something more than just a business relationship. I deal with business in my job so I don't want it to carry over into my private life, my sex life if you wanna call it that."

When Hunter didn't say anything more and even loosened his grip on Jeff's arm the younger man frowned and held still, waiting expectantly for Hunter's next few words.

Instead of words Jeff suddenly had Hunter's mouth over his own. The younger wrestler frantically tried to push Hunter away as the kiss came on hard and hot blooded almost crushing Jeff's lips in its wake. However, his resistance weakened when the kiss became more slow and sensual as Hunter seemed to massage every corner of the young Hardy's mouth with his tongue.

It was a kiss that had seduced many a man long before Jeff.

"Damn … "Jeff whispered breathlessly when they finally parted his lips quivering and his whole body shivered with pleasure.

"I thought you'd say that," Hunter grinned very pleased at Jeff's reaction to the kiss. Instead of being disgusted the younger man seemed to want more. "No one else has ever kissed you like that before have they? Not Maria, not Candice, not even your precious Trish."

Hunter pulled Jeff into another kiss, equally passionate as before. This time instead of trying to push The Game away, after a moment's hesitation, The Rainbow Haired Warrior slowly wrapped his arms around him, one hand digging into Hunter's hair while the other clawed at his back.

Hunter ran his tongue across Jeff's slowly coaxing it to come out and dance with him. He felt a flare of victory as the young Hardy's tongue cautiously slipped out to touch his own. Finally, Jeff grew bold with the rush of desire streaming through his loins at the sensual movement of lips and tongues, and kissed back with equal fervor.

When they parted again this time they were both shivering. He placed a hand under Jeff's chin and turned the young Hardy's head up so they were looking eye to eye.

"Do you accept my proposition?" Triple H asked again, touching his forehead to Jeff's.

Jeff furrowed his brow in confusion, still not believing what Hunter was asking of him. This time he was wondering why Triple H would want him at all. He had always assumed that Hunter like most of the locker room regarded him with a kind of polite disdain as if he were an estranged relative that no one spoke of outside of the family.

"Why me…?

Hunter looked down almost embarrassed, he hesitated before looking back up at the younger man right in the eye. "I like you." He said softly.

Jeff felt his breath catch in his throat shocked by this admission from Triple H. However, there was something in older man's eyes that said the sentiment was genuine, beyond just sexual desire.

The young Hardy swallowed hard, trying to get himself under control and think clearly. "Let me…Think about it…" He whispered between deep breaths.

"Let me think about it" was not the answer Hunter was hoping to hear but he would take it. It was a great deal of progress from a definite "no", he'd gotten when he'd first started working on Jeff.

"When will I know?" Hunter breathed into Jeff's ear sending more shivers through the younger man's body. It was taking everything Hunter had in him not to throw Jeff down and take him right there on the floor of the limo but he kept himself in check. He had to move slowly, as he did not want to scare the young man away just when he was making progress.

"Give me till the end of RAW tomorrow. I'll tell you then." Jeff rasped. "Now if you don't mind I'd like to get up to my room and rest." He tried to slip out of Hunter's grasp, but the larger man held him fast. "Hunter?"

"You're not going to get very far with that ankle," Hunter reached over and opened the car door. He stepped out then offered his arms to Jeff. "Let me help you."

Even after their conversation Jeff was not too keen about having Hunter take him up to his room. However, Jeff's poor ankles were already weak and he didn't want to do further damage to the injured one by walking too much. He only hoped that his roommate for the night, Ken Kennedy was already there, he knew Hunter wouldn't try anything with another person in the room.

Jeff accepted Hunter's help out of the car but before he leaned fully on the other man he reached down to grab his duffel bag.

"You can have the porter bring that up for you," Hunter suggested.

"I'd rather carry it myself it's got my sketch books in it and my iPod and stuff in it," Jeff said, grabbing the strap.

"That's a lot of weight to put on your ankle." Hunter murmured, sounding genuinely concerned. "Here," He grabbed the strap and slung Jeff's bag over his own shoulder.

Jeff was truly surprised by Hunter's kind gesture. He jumped a little when the larger man wrapped an arm around his waist but quickly got over his shock and leaned against Hunter taking the weight off his sore ankle.

Just by chance when they entered the lobby they were spotted by none other than Jeff's roommate Ken Kennedy.

"What did you do to him Hunter?" The blonde haired wrestler asked when he approached.

"It wasn't Hunter, it was a frozen curb and my head in the clouds," Jeff shrugged casually.

"Again?"

Jeff nodded and Kennedy rolled his eyes. "All right, let's get you up to the room and get some ice on that ankle. I'll take it from here Hunter."

"I've already got a hold of him, I can help him up," Hunter insisted.

Kennedy raised an eyebrow at Hunter's apparent eagerness to help Jeff but kept quiet about it. He also noticed Jeff seemed a little uneasy in the grasp of the larger wrestler, as his eyes kept flickering between Triple H and himself.

"I think I have a better idea," Kennedy said when he spotted one of the luggage trolleys near by. He grabbed it and pushed it over to them. "Hop on Jeff."

Jeff laughed as he slipped out of Hunter's grasp and limped gingerly over to the trolley and got up on it.

Hunter barely managed to hide his displeasure when Kennedy took Jeff's bag from his shoulder and placed it on the trolley under Jeff's feet. However, his disappointment showed full and complete, when Kennedy pushed the trolley into the elevator and Jeff waved back at Hunter just before the doors closed.

"Until tomorrow, Jeff," Hunter murmured. "Let's hope you make the right decision."

000

_Oh what will Jeff's decision be...? And how will Hunter react?_


	6. Chapter 6

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_000_

Triple H slowly changed out of his wrestling gear hoping to take up enough time so he would not have to wait too long before Jeff arrived. He was eager to get Jeff's answer after what he'd proposed the night before, so waiting idly would drive him crazy.

Fortunately for him just as he had finished putting on his jeans there was a knock at his door. He took a deep calming breath and took a moment to insure no excitement would be evident on his face before opening the door. Sure enough the object of his desire was standing there with hair freshly dyed blue from yesterday.

"Um…" Jeff shifted uncomfortably.

"Well Jeff, what brings you by?" Hunter teased.

"You know damn well what…" Jeff muttered rolling his eyes.

Hunter chuckled softly and ushered Jeff in. The younger man stopped in the middle of the room and took a deep breath, keeping his back turned toward Hunter.

"Well?" Hunter prodded, allowing some of his pent up eagerness to slip through.

Jeff swallowed hard not able to bring himself to look around. "I'm… I'm gonna accept your proposition."

"You are?" A wide grin spread across Hunter's face.

"Yeah," Jeff confirmed, still not looking around.

Hunter let out another soft chuckle while he slowly walked up behind Jeff and wrapped his arms the younger wrestler's waist. Jeff tensed up and managed to pull away before finally turning around to face a very confused Hunter.

"Hold up. I'm gonna go along with this, but only if you agree to some rules I got with me," Jeff said, his voice firm and unwavering.

Hunter folded his arms across his chest and raised an eyebrow at Jeff. "Rules?"

"Yeah, kind of a like the Ten Commandments," Jeff explained as he opened his bag and pulled out one of his sketchbooks. "This is my first time being with another guy, and you man, you have a reputation of screwing people over. So I'm just trying to cover my ass, uh…figuratively speaking."

Hunter nodded slowly, still not liking the idea of rules. "All right, let's hear them."

Jeff opened his book and cleared his throat. "Number one, No weird stuff, which includes but is not limited to, orgies, threesomes, basically involving more than just you and me, Sadomasochism, bondage, attempting to kill me, cutting, dressing up, etc. Although sometimes the dressing up thing I might be lenient."

"That's okay," Hunter chuckled. "I'm not looking for that kind of excitement either."

"All right, we're on the same with that one, that's good." Jeff breathed a small sigh of relief before continuing. "Number two, nothing goes in my mouth, besides your tongue."

Hunter's eyes widened at that. "What?! You mean you won't--?!"

"No." Jeff answered calmly.

"Why not?"

"Because the idea of sucking another guy's dick makes me want to throw up okay." Jeff grumbled.

"Oh come on, it's not that bad." Hunter protested.

"I said no!"Jeff snapped, his expression showing that he was completely adamant about this rule. "And this rule ain't negotiable

"I can't believe this," Hunter growled, shaking his head.

"Fine," Jeff closed the sketchbook and shouldered his bag as he stood. "If you won't go along with me on this stuff, you can forget the whole thing," He said striding toward the door.

"Wait," Hunter grabbed Jeff's arm as he walked by. "Fine, fine no fellaccio. Now sit down and tell me the rest of your rules."

Hunter had decided somewhat grudgingly to agree to the young Hardy's rule. He figured even with the limitation it was better than not having Jeff at all.

Jeff nodded and sat back down on one of the benches across from Hunter and opened the book again. "Number 3, any sex has got to happen at least more than a half an hour before my match starts, you know so I can get cleaned up and ready for the match. Also I want at least two hours to recover after one of my matches before you come looking for some action."

"That sounds fair," Hunter nodded. "Go on."

"Number 4, I'm not going to have sex with you more than two times a day,"

"Why not?!" Hunter snapped looking very unhappy at this second limitation.

"Medical reasons…" Jeff stated casually.

"Medical reasons?" Hunter raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"The herniated discs in my back can't take all your thrusting," Jeff smirked. "You tend to get really into the moment."

Hunter laughed. "I guess I am little rough. Okay I'll agree to that, but what about other sex things that don't involve thrusting, things that won't hurt your back, like feeling you up or molesting you mouth with my tongue."

Jeff rolled his eyes but an amused look remained on his face. "All right, I'll amend it to say, no sex activities that hurt my back more than twice a day."

"Good deal." Hunter grinned. "Now, what about five?"

"Five," Jeff leaned back against the lockers. "No sex if my brother is nearby, like in the arena. So basically when Matt's around keep the snake its cage okay?" He let out a weary sigh. "He's going to freak out enough when I tell him…"

"I can see that," Hunter let out a sigh of his own. "The way he's so protective around you, if he walked in on us kicking it, he'd probably have a heart attack."

"No shit," Jeff chuckled. "All right, number six."

"Yay, we're past the half way point." Hunter stretched his arms and rested them behind his head as he too leaned back against the lockers.

"Number six," Jeff continued nonchalantly. "I know having affairs with people is a business thing for you, so I understand if while you're with me you got to sleep with someone else, it's all right. However, I come first okay? Both figuratively and literally."

Hunter's mouth fell open in surprise. Despite all of the previous limitations, Jeff had put on their relationship; the younger man had allowed him this freedom. It was a strange contrast, but so was Jeff Hardy in general.

"I'll go with that," Hunter grinned.

"I figured you would," Jeff said dryly. "And that leads me into number seven. We're going to use protection, every time. I know I let you get away with it that first time after Armageddon, but from here on in, protection. Because I don't know who you're screwing besides me and I don't care, but I sure as hell ain't gonna have one of their diseases transmitted to me."

Hunter nodded, still happy and agreeable about the sixth rule. "That's reasonable, and we don't want to get you pregnant either."

Jeff let out a soft laugh, before he continued. "Number eight, I get to ask one favor of you per sexual thing we have. But I have the right to not have to cash in that favor right there and then. I can save the favor till a later date. I'll keep a tally of when we had our escapades and favors owed and paid off."

"Why Jeff, this is a side of you I've never seen, how business like of you," The Cheshire cat grin crossed Hunter's face.

"Yeah, well, it's just out of necessity," Jeff shrugged. "Number nine."

"Good, we're almost done." Hunter sat forward and rested his head in his hand.

Jeff got up and walked over to Hunter. He tapped the older man gently on the top of his head with the sketchbook. "Hey pay attention; these last two are really important."

"Okay," Hunter absently rubbed his head as he stood up to face Jeff eye to eye.

"Number nine. You WILL honor the favors that I ask of you, if they are in your power to give." Jeff prodded Hunter's chest with his finger for emphasis.

Hunter shrugged. "That goes without saying. I do live up to my promises and if you don't believe me, just ask Shawn or Cena."

Jeff eyed Hunter for a few moments. That rule had gone over better than Jeff expected. "Okay… I guess we're on to number ten."

"Last but not least." Hunter smiled, quite happy that they were at the end of this and soon Jeff, for the most part, would be his.

Jeff swallowed hard and read the last rule. "And number ten, I have the right to terminate this relationship if you break one of these rules, or if I'm feeling threatened by this relationship."

The young Hardy shifted uncomfortably as Hunter remained silent for a few moments, his face unreadable then The Game extended a hand to the Rainbow-Haired Warrior. "Deal."

Jeff stared at Hunter in shock for a moment. He had not expected Triple H to so readily agree to his demands. He hesitated for a few seconds before taking Hunter's hand and shaking it. "Deal"

With that Jeff held out his sketchbook, and a pen. "Sign this."

"Everything official, eh?" Hunter smirked signing his name just under the rules.

"I've signed enough contracts and watched enough of Judge Judy to know to get stuff in writing." Jeff smirked back.

When Hunter had finished signing, Jeff took the book back and walked over to put it back into his bag. Suddenly, Hunter strode up and wrapped his arms around Jeff's waist.

"What do you say we get this little relationship started?" Hunter whispered into Jeff's ear.

Jeff tensed up in Hunter's arms. "Here? Right now?"

"No better time." Hunter purred.

Jeff shivered a little as Hunter reached around to slowly unzip his high neck jacket. The zipper came down, but only to the level of his collar bone. The hairs on the back of his neck stood on end at the feel of Hunter's lips brushing against the newly exposed flesh of his throat.

Despite his former eagerness to get into Jeff's pants Hunter wanted to take it slower now that the younger man belonged to him. He wanted to seduce Jeff this time; he wanted Jeff to want what he wanted. Hunter wanted Jeff to enjoy it so he would not be a cold fish again like he had been at Armageddon.

Already it seemed Jeff was taking on that behavior, as the young Hardy merely let his arms hang at his sides and held almost completely still. Even though this allowed Hunter to do as he pleased, it annoyed him that Jeff was not participating again.

Hunter decided to put a stop to that. He suddenly unzipped the jacket all the way and practically ripped it off of Jeff's shoulders. He spun Jeff around to face him and pushed him up against the lockers, eliciting a surprised yelp from the young Hardy.

In sharp contrast to the almost violent motions before, Hunter took one of Jeff's hands and slowly raised it up to kiss the palm. He glanced back at the younger wrestler, and saw Jeff was just staring at him. However, it was not an empty stare, but one that wondered, _"What's going to happen now?"_

It was then Hunter realized that to keep Jeff from staring off into space and mentally fading into his own little world, he would have to keep younger man guessing at what would happen next.

With a grin Triple H began kissing each one of Jeff's finger tips. He noted Jeff had very slender fingers compared to his own. Beautiful hands.

Jeff was clearly not comfortable with having such a precious limb as his right hand so close to Hunter's mouth. There was worry and strain on the younger man's features, as if he were fighting the urge to pull away in order to live up to the agreement they had just made.

After finishing with the fingertip kisses Hunter positioned Jeff's arm around his neck indicating what he wanted Jeff to do. The younger man responded in kind by raising up his other arm and wrapped it around Hunter's neck as well.

The older man's grin grew broader as he pulled Jeff's body up against his own. He chuckled softly when he saw Jeff visibly blush as their groins pressed up against each other.

They were so close he could feel the small shivers running through Jeff's body as he trembled. Hunter studied Jeff's flushed face for a few seconds, it was evident the younger man was trying to put on a good calm face but was failing at it. The nervousness in those emerald eyes betrayed everything.

His gaze traveled down from Jeff's eyes to his lips, which had that perfect curve one always saw on marble statues and elegant paintings. Oh how Hunter wanted to ravish those beautiful lips, but not just yet. Jeff would be expecting that. Instead Hunter chose to bend his head down and hotly kiss him in the spot where his shoulder met his neck.

Jeff let out a soft moan as Hunter trailed a line of kisses down to his collar bone and then ran his tongue across the clavicle.

"I gotta admit," Jeff murmured. "You know all the right places."

Hunter paused to look up at Jeff with a grin on his face. "I've had a lot of practice."

Without another word Hunter slipped his hand down the front of Jeff's pants and cupped him through his boxers. Jeff let out a startled gasp, but did not try to pull away. Instead, he wrapped his arms tighter around Hunter's neck and pressed his groin more against Hunter's hand.

"I can tell…" Jeff rasped between ragged breaths.

The young Hardy's eyes rolled back into his head and the lids drifted closed as Hunter's ministrations sent waves of pleasure through his body. The next thing Jeff knew, he was on his back on the floor with Triple H on top of him.

Then just as Jeff was beginning to find himself lost in a haze of pleasure, it stopped. Hunter had stopped kissing and fondling him, in fact larger man had gotten off of him all together.

Jeff winced as he had become almost painfully aroused by Hunter's previous conduct. He propped himself up on his elbows to find out why the encounter had ended so abruptly, and if it was necessary to finish the orgasm himself.

"Hunter?" Jeff said softly, when he spotted Hunter rifling through his duffel bag. "Are you going to finish this or not?"

"Oh, I'm going to finish it," Hunter said when he found what he was looking for and turned around holding up a tube of lube and a condom. "I just wanted to keep with the rules."

Jeff's face fell a little as he realized Hunter meant to go all the way right now. His first experience of actual sex with Hunter had not been a pleasant one; in fact it had been downright painful. The memory of it, made his blooming erection start to wilt.

_What have I gotten myself into…?_ Was the thought running through Jeff's head as he realized he had just signed himself to this whenever Hunter pleased.

"Wait, wait" Jeff began to give himself some breathing room as Hunter advanced on him. "Do you really want to do this here? In the locker room?"

Hunter frowned and went over to the door and made sure it was locked before turning back to Jeff with a slightly dark expression. "Yes. You've kept me waiting quite awhile, so don't think you're getting out of this," Hunter's voice remained in it's even, husky tone, but there was a slight edge of warning in it.

"I…I wasn't…" Jeff trailed off when he realized there was no getting out of this. The fact that he had willingly gotten himself into this mess in the first place made him feel even worse.

Jeff shakily lay back down on the floor, covering his eyes with his hand.

Hunter frowned and glared down at Jeff's shaking form. Even with all of his methods of seduction, Jeff was still acting as if he were being forced into this, even though he had agreed to it.

_Calm down Hunter he's just nervous…_ Triple H reminded himself that this whole situation was a new thing for Jeff, so naturally the younger man was a little apprehensive particularly since their first experience together had not been a totally pleasant one for Jeff. On the other hand Hunter had not expected a man who readily jumped off ladders to be so skittish.

"I'm not going to hurt you," Hunter knelt down beside him and gently ran his fingers through Jeff's hair. "But you need to relax."

Jeff swallowed hard and nodded before he slid a shaky hand down to undo his pants, however Hunter stopped his hand and leaned down to kiss him. It was the same kind of kiss they had shared in the limo the day before. Hunter could feel Jeff's trembling cease and his body begin to relax.

As the younger man's body loosened up, Hunter reached down and unbuttoned the button and unzipped the zipper of Jeff's pants.

"Now are you ready to take things up a notch?" Hunter smirked as he tugged Jeff's cargo jeans and boxers down to his knees.

Surprisingly, the younger man put on a smirk of his own. "Just try not to holler louder than me."

Hunter laughed, glad to see Jeff's smart mouth had returned. It meant Jeff nervousness had been taken down. "Just out of curiosity, did someone help you write out those rules?"

Jeff absently rubbed the back of his head, a little embarrassed. "Yeah… Shawn… I knew you told him about us, so I went for some advice."

"I should have known…" Hunter let out a dry laugh as he poured a considerable amount of lube into his hands and carefully prepared Jeff and himself for entrance.

"Ready?" Hunter asked huskily.

Jeff took in a deep breath and nodded firmly. "Yeah."

And with that, The Game took Jeff for all he was worth, thinking that the younger man finally belonged to him. Little did he know that the Rainbow Haired Warrior would take hold of him more than he could have ever imagined…

000

_It seems Jeff and Hunter have taken their relationship to a different level….wait till Matt finds out…._


	7. Chapter 7

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_000_

For Jeff the agreement between him and Hunter turned out to not be as bad as he had thought. After a few weeks of "sessions" with Triple H, his body had adapted to the larger man's size, so now there was little or no pain at all when they engaged.

Despite his reservations, Jeff was finding he did enjoy himself sometimes even though he was with another guy. Hunter was very experienced and knew all of the good pressure points and sweet spots. And there was something about the idea of being wanted by this powerful, one hundred percent, macho, alpha male who represented the epitome of masculinity, all the things Jeff knew he could never be, that got a little bit of a rise out of the young Hardy whenever he thought about it. Jeff was curious to see where this relationship would go; he wanted to find out why this King of Kings wanted him so much that he would pursue him with such vigor. That was the true reason why he had agreed to Hunter's proposition, that and he had wanted the peace of mind of knowing Triple H had his back, instead of being out to get him.

Now the only thing that really weighed down on Jeff's mind was how he was going to tell Matt what he had done. But how did one bring that kind of thing up in a conversation? Also with Wrestlemania upon them, Jeff didn't want to have to worry about Matt's reaction and inevitable freak out.

However, this dilemma would be solved for him on the night of Wrestlemania itself…

000

Matt Hardy felt a great rush of excitement when he entered the Citrus Bowl arena. He had been out of the loop for five months due to a ruptured appendix, except for sporadic appearances when he came to support Jeff, one of which ended up with him getting beat up by Randy Orton. The only thing he was thankful for was that he had recovered in time to participate in Wrestlemania, even if it was only a quick cameo to take out MVP during the ladder match.

He was supposed to have kept a low profile so that his sudden appearance would truly be a surprise, but he wanted to stop by his brother's locker room for a quick "Good luck" before the Money in the Bank match.

"Hey, Jeff, I…" Matt began happily as he opened the door, but he stopped when his whole body seemed to clench up in shock at the sight before him.

There was Jeff pressed up against one of the walls by Hunter who was groping the younger Hardy's ass. That was bad enough in itself, but they also appeared to be doing the tonsil tango as well, judging by how feverishly they were kissing.

Jeff peered lazily out of the corner of one of his lust drooped eyes. However, they shot open wide when he registered Matt's presence. Jeff broke the kiss and stared in surprise at his older brother.

Matt gapped at them, opening and closing his mouth several times, trying to say something. Instead, his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell onto the floor in a dead faint.

"Oh man…" Jeff groaned as he slipped past Hunter and walked over to kneel by his fallen brother.

Hunter followed and they both dragged Matt into the locker room and shut the door. Jeff grabbed the nearest thing he could find, which was a WWE Magazine and used it to fan Matt's face.

"Look, Jeff, I'm sorry about breaking the rules, but…" Hunter said quickly, worried that Jeff might terminate their relationship over this.

"Nah, it wasn't your fault." Jeff shook his head, flashing Hunter a small smile, while he continued to fan Matt's face. "I thought Matt would wait till after the match to come by. At least this solves my problem of telling him."

Hunter let out a soft chuckle, and stood up. "Should I get some water or something?"

"Nah, I think he's coming around now," Jeff said.

Matt stirred and let out a small groan.

"Do you want me to leave?" Hunter asked quietly.

"I think it's better if you stay," Jeff said as Matt slowly opened his eyes.

"Oh man…" Matt groaned as he sat up and rubbed the back of his head. He looked over at Jeff. "Jeff, I had the worst dream ever. I saw you and Triple H making out, and I mean total tongue tango."

Jeff sighed wearily and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Um, Matt, I hate to burst your bubble, but…" He pointed over to Hunter. "It wasn't a dream."

Matt's jaw dropped when he turned to look at Hunter, who smiled pleasantly back at him. "Oh God no… What the hell is going on here?"

"We're uh…together," Hunter answered not sure how to put it properly to the older Hardy.

"I can see that…" Matt growled. "But just what do you mean by 'together'?"

Jeff sighed and decided just to lay it out on the table. "We're fuck buddies, Matt."

Matt looked back at Jeff as if his little brother had just slapped him in the face. "What?!"

"How many different ways do you want me to explain this to you, Matt?" Jeff rolled his eyes.

"Enough for me to understand you!" Matt continued to stare at his brother in disbelief. "How the hell can you be having an affair with Hunter of all people?"

"Well apparently I swing for both teams," Jeff said dryly.

"Jeff and I have a little agreement you see…" Hunter tried to explain, but only received a glare from Matt.

"Hunter, maybe now is a good time for you to leave," Jeff motioned for the door with his head. "I'll meet you later."

"You're going to meet him later?!" Matt gawked, knowing exactly what Jeff meant by that statement, but still didn't want to believe it.

"Later, Jeff," Hunter grinned at the younger Hardy before leaving.

As soon as the door closed behind Hunter Matt demanded some answers. "Why, Jeff, why?"

"Why, Matt, I never figured you for a homophobe," Jeff said sarcastically.

"I don't care that you're screwing a guy," Matt snapped. "I know how you like to experiment, but why of all people is it Hunter? He's not even your type!"

"Maybe that's why I want to go along with it," Jeff shrugged. "I mean it's kind of cool; it's different. I wanna find out why he wants me, since it was he who came to me first, mind you. I mean it's like the quarterback of the football team suddenly takes an interest in the artsy, loner kid who hangs out behind the bleachers. It's more than just the sex man, he could get that anywhere with prettier people and yet he wants me. I wanna see where this goes."

"I guess I can see why you did it, but I still think Hunter is a dangerous guy to be _literally_ fucking around with." Matt leveled Jeff with his best stern, disapproving gaze.

"Yeah, I thought about that so I made some rules to cover my ass, figuratively," Jeff argued his case further.

"Rules?" Matt raised an eyebrow.

They spent the next few minutes, sitting in the middle of the locker room, while Jeff explained his rules of engagement with Triple H.

"And if Hunter decides to turn on me, I'll threaten to tell the truth about the whole thing, and I've got physical evidence stashed away to prove it." Jeff finished.

Matt's stern expression softened considerably when he found out his little brother had not just gone into this on a whim. "You really thought this through, huh?"

Jeff nodded.

"Well, I still don't like it, but I'll try to get used to it." Matt let out a defeated sigh.

"Thanks, Matt," Jeff grinned and patted his big brother on the back. "Now come on, let's go out there and steal the show."

Despite everything, Matt managed a small smile back.

000

"_And the winner of the Money in the Bank Ladder Match is Jeff Hardy!"_

Jeff managed to lift the briefcase in triumph, despite the pain in his body from the many falls and crashes he had endured throughout the match. He plastered a smile on his face to keep from cringing in front of the fans as he tried to walk, not limp or stagger, up the ramp.

When he was finally backstage he headed straight for the trainer's room to get some ice on his achy joints. They first tested the movement in those joints to make sure nothing was broken or torn and then applied the ice and some ibuprofen. Luckily for Jeff, everything seemed to be just bashed up and bruised, but not broken or strained beyond capacity that would take more than a couple of days rest to heal

By the time he was finally cleared by the trainers, Wrestlemania practically over; only one more match to go between The Undertaker and Edge for the World Heavyweight Championship. Jeff slowly trudged back to his locker room, but no sooner had he entered the room and opened his bag when there was a knock at the door. He expected it to be Matt coming to congratulate him, however he found Triple H standing there.

"Congratulations," the larger man said softly.

Jeff managed a tired smile. "Thanks. Sorry to hear Randy managed to save his championship from you."

"Ugh. Don't remind me," Hunter groaned, entering the room even though Jeff had not officially invited him in.

Jeff folded his arms across his chest, knowing why Hunter was really here, so he decided to cut to the chase. "And you're looking for some 'comfort' aren't you?"

Hunter shrugged a little sheepishly. "Yeah…I could use some." When Jeff opened his mouth to protest, Triple H interrupted to explain further, "Look I know Matt's around, but could we do it in my room, behind closed and locked doors where there's no chance that he could randomly walk in and see us?"

Jeff was about to protest further with not only the Matt argument, but also the fact that he was exhausted and his body was in a lot of pain. However, he changed his mind when his eyes fell on the briefcase he had just won. If he was going to make a run for the title, being on the good side of Hunter would help make the way a little easier and a little less painful.

"All right," Jeff conceded.

Hunter looked back at him in surprise. He hadn't actually expected Jeff to agree so readily. He smiled and pulled Jeff to him, giving him a kiss on the lips, and wrapping his arms around the younger man's waist.

"Just let me have a few celebration drinks with Matt and my friends first and then I'll come up to your place." Jeff chuckled, resting his arms on Hunter's shoulders. "Besides, I'm a little more 'accepting' when I drunk, if you know what I mean."

"Yes, I do…" Hunter grinned, remembering Valentine's Day, when Jeff had been completely plastered, and practically begging for Hunter's attentions. "Just don't fall asleep on me this time."

Jeff snorted in amusement. "I give you permission to go ahead and bang me even if I'm passed out. Though go easy, I don't want wake up with a sore ass as well as a sore back."

Hunter laughed and kissed Jeff again on the lips.

"Down boy, we're not in your room yet." Jeff gently nudged Hunter's face away. "I'll see you later."

Hunter smirked and grabbed Jeff's hips and roughly jerked their groins against each other. "I'll be waiting…"

With that Hunter let the younger man go and strode over to the door. He grinned and winked at Jeff, before opening the door, almost running into Matt on his way out. The older Hardy brother gave Triple H a warning glare, before entering the room to congratulate his little brother on the victory.

Hunter couldn't help, but keep a grin on his face even with Matt's cold shouldering. Though Wrestlemania had not gone as well as he had wanted, he was actually looking forward to his evening with Jeff.

000

_Well Matt knows about Jeff's little liaison with Hunter... and he's not happy..._


	8. Chapter 8

___Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_000  
_

_Jeff Hardy was out of control._

_He was spiraling down a dark tunnel with no one to pull him back and everything he'd worked for, everything he loved seemed to be slipping away._

_He had been fired from WWE the goal that he and his brother had worked so hard with blood sweat and tears to attain. The last straw had been finding several painkillers in his blood that had not been prescribed, plus a few other more recreational drugs that would send any employer into a conniption._

_Now even wrestling fans were through with him. During his match at Ring of Honor that night he had been booed and jeered at before during and after the match. It wasn't the kind of jeering and booing a storyline heel gets when he enters the ring, no it had been very personal. There were shouts of "You suck hardy." "You got Fired!" and "We want Matt!" It was horrible._

_But the problem had been long before that. He'd lost interest in everything he cared about; Trish, Matt, the WWE, his fans, his career, his art, everything. It was as if he had gone completely numb to the world around him._

_Worst of all he knew it was happening. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't feel anything. And he hated it. This made him spiral even further to the point where he was looking for anything, ANYTHING that would give him some kind of stimulation._

_The recreational drugs he got his hands on gave him that stimulation he so sought, even if it was only for a brief time. He knew he shouldn't have taken them, he knew they would get him into trouble, but it didn't matter, nothing mattered except getting that high and feeling something again._

_Then it all fell apart. They found out._

_Between WWE and ROH, his wrestling career was over. He would never again stand in front of thousands of people chanting his name, he would never know the honor and pride of being a world champion, and he would never have Trish by his side again._

_Since his problems began, he could feel her growing more and more distant from him as if fearing he would drag her down the spiral as well. Of course he couldn't blame her for that, he scared himself sometimes, but that didn't make it any easier for him to accept. In fact it only made it worse, since he couldn't even be mad at her._

_He felt so empty, so horribly empty as if his soul had become a bottomless pit that could never be full again._

_The WWE executives tried to convince him to go to rehab, but that was no good. They could fix the physical addiction, but they couldn't fix what made him turn to the drugs in the first place. They couldn't fix his soul._

_Jeff sat in the corner of his room, shivering with dry sobs choking his throat. Right now, not even his trusty drugs seemed to lift him up. He didn't want to keep living from high to high anymore, but if he didn't get his high the emptiness would consume him._

_He was trapped, like a soul caught between heaven and hell, merely floating and feeling nothing at all, neither pain nor happiness. Perhaps just simple oblivion would be the better choice…_

_Jeff slowly got to his feet and staggered over to the glass door that led to his hotel room balcony. He opened the door and stepped out into the warm twilight air of April just as the sun ended its descent. Not so long ago such a night would have made Jeff smile as he snuggled with Trish watching the sunset from the balcony. Now it only made his already weak heart sink farther into the darkness of his empty soul._

_On the balcony was a small table and chair. He climbed up on to the table and then up on to the railing, balancing gingerly on the narrow perch. He looked down at the busy street twenty-two stories below. He was staring into his own oblivion. _

_He took a deep breath and jumped…_

000

Jeff woke up with a start, his hair and skin dampened by sheen of sweat, his fingers clenched tightly around the fabric of the sheets beneath him. He lay still for a few seconds as his shocked mind collected itself before finally sitting up.

To his right he saw the sleeping form of Triple H. Never before was he so happy to have the larger man next to him. It reminded him that he was here in the present and that the horrible things in the dream were images of dark days long past. Days Jeff always feared he might have to relive again.

He smiled a little as he stared down at Hunter who was snoring softly still fast asleep. After Wrestlemania, Hunter decided to join Jeff and his crew for some celebratory drinks, which ended up with the two of them completely plastered. At the end of the evening they staggered back to Hunter's room, cracking dirty jokes about which divas had fake boobs and which ones had real and how they had managed to ditch Matt and Kennedy. They rounded out the evening with some alcohol aided passion most which was a fiery blur in Jeff's memory.

Jeff slowly reached down and gently brushed some loose strands of hair out of Hunter's face with the back of his hand. He felt a lump rise in his throat as he remembered he used to do the same thing to Trish. A part of him missed her still, even though he knew she had long since moved on and married someone else. He missed what could have been, more than anything else.

Sniffing back a sob he checked the clock on the nightstand and saw the time was 11:00 am. He gawked a little as he remembered that he was supposed to meet Matt for lunch at noon.

He slipped out of bed and began putting on his clothes. Just after he threw on his shirt and pants and was beginning to tie back his hair, a pair of strong arms wrapped around his waist.

"Where do you think you're going?" Hunter purred and nuzzled Jeff's neck.

"I promised Matt I'd meet him for lunch," Jeff murmured as he finished with his hair.

"Hmm, how about you call in sick and stay with me?" Hunter kissed the back of his neck and gently tightened his hold on Jeff's waist.

Jeff brought his hands down and slid them across the top of Hunter's. "Hmm, tempting…" He murmured, but then moved Hunter's hands away from his waist. "But blood is thicker than water…" He smirked and added. "Or cum."

Hunter laughed before grabbing Jeff's arm. "What time do you have to be there?"

"Noon," Jeff answered, trying to pull his arm away.

"Well that's in an hour, you could stay with me for a little while longer," Hunter said, as he nuzzled Jeff's neck and raised his hands up to massage the younger man's shoulders.

"All right," Jeff breathed and melted back against Hunter.

Despite Jeff's calm and joking demeanor, his body seemed tense and shaky. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Jeff answered quietly, but worried that Hunter knew something. "Why do you ask?"

"Well let's just say if you don't relax the tenseness in your shoulders, I'm going to break my fingers over them." Hunter chuckled as he sat down on the bed, pulling Jeff down with him. "Come on, what's wrong?"

"I'm fine," Jeff murmured, his voice still quiet, but insistent.

"Did you have a bad dream?" Hunter continued to probe for information, knowing full well that Jeff was hiding something. To help coax such information out of Jeff he slowly slid his hands down to Jeff's lower back and began messaging in small circles, carefully kneading the knots out of the muscles.

The coaxing worked as Jeff let out a soft moan and answered the question. "Sort of…"

"Sort of? What was it about?" Hunter prodded further.

"It was about me. Me a long time ago." Jeff murmured.

Hunter stopped his massage and lay down on the bed along side Jeff. He propped himself up on his elbow with his head resting in his hand, while his other hand reached over to continue rubbing Jeff's lower back. "What happened to you?"

"No, Hunter," Jeff said getting up. "I don't want to talk about it."

However, Hunter lashed out and grabbed Jeff's arm, and pulled him back so he landed flat on his back on the bed. In the blink of an eye Hunter crawled on top of the younger man, straddling his waist and pinning his wrists to the mattress above his head.

"You're not going anywhere until you tell me," Hunter stated seriously, but not menacing.

"Hunter, please don't," Jeff said softly, all the while struggling to at least free his wrists from the larger man's grasp.

"Come on I want to know, I promise nothing you say will leave this room. I want to know what makes you so upset, so I can help you." Hunter said gently. As if to prove he meant what he said, he released one of Jeff's wrists and moved his own hand to caress the younger man's cheek.

Jeff placed his now freed hand on top of Hunter's, and him a somewhat sorrowful look. "I don't know Hunter," He sighed wearily. "There are enough people how think low of me in this company, I don't want to put back on that list."

"I don't think less of you now." Hunter smiled. "And I won't think less of you no matter what you have to say."

Hunter released Jeff's other wrist and moved to remove the band holding the younger man's purple-blue hair in a ponytail. Once freed Hunter ran his fingers carefully through the purple-blue hair, admiring the neon stands as he did so.

"Well…" Jeff began after taking a deep breath. "I know you've heard that before and after I was fired from the WWE back in '03, I went through some dark days."

"Yeah?" Hunter remembered the last time he'd seen Jeff before he was fired. The dead eyes, the melancholy monotone of his voice all a sharp contrast to his rainbow hair and intricate designs painted on his body. It seemed the more Jeff deteriorated, the more paint was on his face and dye in his hair, as if showing on his skin the vibrancy he lacked in his soul.

"I didn't know what was wrong with me, it just seemed like I was just going through the motions of life without actually feeling anything, nothing touched me, and nothing interested me, not the WWE, not my music, my art, Trish..."

Jeff swallowed a lump in his throat at the mention of his lost love, before continuing soberly.

The only time I did feel something was when my brain was warped by medications or being high off a more recreational drug, but even then it felt forced. The feelings didn't feel real. It was like it was simulated feelings, even when I was high I still felt empty."

Hunter shook his head slowly, and swallowed hard as the story sounded all too familiar. Shawn had had similar problems before and shared them with Hunter as well. "And the more drugs you took, the more empty you were..."

Suddenly Jeff laughed, but it was a hollow sound with not a touch of humor or joy in it. "No there wasn't even a change. No matter how many drugs I took I felt the same. The same emptiness no matter what…"

"Then one night I was so sick in my soul. The drugs weren't helping, I couldn't reach Trish or Matt, and I felt like I was in a dark tunnel with no light at the end. I couldn't go back or forward. And then outside my room there was this balcony…"

"Jeff…" Hunter murmured his eyes widening in shock as he realized where this was going. He was shocked at how deep Jeff's problems were, not even Shawn had gone that far over the edge. "You tried to…jump…?"

Hunter instantly regretted his words as Jeff took on the expression of a kicked puppy, he swallowed hard and rolled away from Hunter, turned his face towards the mattress.

"Yeah," finally came the muffled answer from the Rainbow-Haired Warrior.

"What made you feel that was your only way out?" Hunter asked softly.

"I don't know, I only remember that all I could think about was just ending it all."

"I see," Hunter patted Jeff's hip. "I guess you kind of changed your mind huh?"

"Kind of," Jeff whispered as he turned his head to look at Hunter again, now that they had gotten past the hump of the story.

"So what happened exactly?" Hunter prompted.

Jeff took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I stood up on the railing, and I was about to jump when some one knocked on my hotel room door, I lost my balance and fell over the side. Even through the drugs my survival instincts must have caught on because I grabbed one of the bars and stopped my fall. I could've let go, but I found I didn't want to. Through all of the abuse and pain I put my body through, it still wanted to live. I managed to pull myself back over the railing. I was scared, terrified, my adrenaline was pumping at a million miles per hour; I was crying my eyes out. And you know what? It was the most wonderful feeling in the world."

"It was?" Hunter raised an eyebrow at the slight smile that appeared on Jeff's face.

"There was hope man. I felt something, for the first time in almost a year I felt a real true emotion, not just drifting through life feeling neither high nor low. And I found out I really wasn't ready to die yet." Jeff explained as best he could.

Triple H nodded and after a few seconds of silence, Jeff sat up and let out a weary sigh. "It's like the old expression, to really live, you gotta almost die first." He let a soft snort of morbid amusement before turning his head back to look at Hunter. "So now you know the rumors were true, your Rainbow-haired Warrior used to be a suicidal drug addict." He said dryly.

"You fought your demons and that's what matters now." Hunter said firmly, sitting up next to Jeff. "You're clean and it wouldn't be fair to hold you to your past mistakes when you're trying so hard to get past them." He smiled at the younger man and patted him on the shoulder. "You know it does take a strong man to resist temptation, but I think it takes a stronger one to turn their life around after going down the wrong path."

Jeff's face softened into a smile and he leaned forward and gave Hunter a soft kiss on the lips. "I didn't know you could be that nice." Jeff whispered. "Why do you hide it all the time?"

"Because if I didn't everyone would want me to be nice to them," Hunter smirked.

"Yeah, true. Too many would take advantage of it. I guess you only reserve it for your inner circle, huh?" Jeff mused.

"Yup. And right now you're one of them." Hunter gently nudged the younger man's back with his fist.

"Thanks." Jeff murmured and sighed again as he gazed out the window. "I wish it could always be like this…"

"You do?" Triple H raised an uneasy eyebrow. Did Jeff mean what he thought he meant? In truth, Hunter hadn't intended any long term relationship with Jeff, and he thought the younger Hardy understood that already.

"Yeah," Jeff breathed. "I just worry someday it's going to happen again. I mean it just sort of came on before. One day I was happy, living my dreams, and suddenly it all started to slip away. Before I knew it I was standing on that balcony railing." He closed his eyes, trying to blink away tears before they fully formed. "I'm just afraid that if it happens again, no one is going to knock on my door =and no one's going to pull me back from the edge."

Hunter breathed a sigh of relief that Jeff hadn't been thinking about a long term relationship, however at the same time he felt his heart sink a little in sympathy at Jeff's worried soul.

After a few moments of thick melancholy silence, Triple H suddenly smiled and lightly yanked on Jeff's hair, pulling the younger man back on to the bed.

"I'll pull you back." Hunter grinned.

Jeff managed a weak smile. "Really? You'd do that?"

Hunter shrugged, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Yeah."

Jeff sat up, and smirked. "We'll see..."

"You don't believe me?" Hunter frowned.

"I believe right now you pity me and you're just saying that because it's the easiest thing to say right now," Jeff eyed him thoughtfully. "I'm not sure though if it would stick."

"Why not…?"

Jeff sat back up. "Well, you said yourself this was a business relationship." He said matter-of-factly. "So we're not exactly friends."

Hunter dropped his eyes as he felt the sting of Jeff's comment. He had meant what he said. After hearing Jeff's story, he certainly did not want a person who had given him such pleasure over the past few weeks to spiral down an abyss. Even after the sexual exchange ended that didn't mean he wouldn't still keep an eye on Jeff.

"What does it take to be your friend?"

"I'm only friends with people I trust," Jeff said simply. "Those people are people that have shown me that they'll still be in my corner when the road gets rough. Like, Matt and Shane and Ken and Shannon and of course Trish at one point. Just 'cause I'm nice to you doesn't mean you're a friend to me."

"Huh," Hunter chuckled thoughtfully. "Nice defense mechanism."

"Huh?"

"You distance yourself from people by making them think you let them in when you haven't at all." Triple H smirked. "That's an even better tactic than being outright cold or tough."

Jeff shrugged. "I only let people in who really make an effort to get to know me."

"Have you let me in at all?" Hunter asked softly, even though he was just busting to know.

"Well physically all the way. But emotionally, after this morning's talk I'd say the door's been opened a crack." Jeff smirked and winked at him.

"Ah, so I've got my foot in there, huh?" Hunter grinned

The younger man shook his head. "Nah, not that much yet. More like a peep hole."

"Oh come on!" Hunter snapped, not really angry, but a little offended. "It's got to be more than that! That was some personal stuff you just shared with me."

Jeff rolled his eyes and shook his head again. "Hunter, the drug addict shit doesn't even scratch the surface of who I am."

"Who are you then?" Hunter challenged.

"Uh-uh, it's not about telling, it's about finding out." Jeff grinned and wagged his index finger at Hunter as if the older man were child trying to find out what his Christmas presents were. "To discover who Jeff Hardy is, you gotta open your mind and watch and listen for yourself who Jeff Hardy is. Cause if Jeff Hardy has to tell you, then you'll never know who Jeff Hardy is. And that's the real question, how much do you care about finding out who Jeff Hardy is…" He looked directly into Hunter's eyes for a few seconds as if trying to burn his words into the other man's brain. Then he glanced at the clock and jumped up from the bed. "Aw man, I gotta run, later Hunter!"

As the younger Hardy left, Hunter just sat there in silence for a moment, allowing Jeff's riddle-like words to sink in…

000

_NOTE: I am taking some artistic license here, I don't think Things got that extreme for the real Jeff Hardy, but for the sake of the story I wanted to portray the Jeff Hardy character as a generally good, who spiraled, but is getting back on the right path and trying to stay there. However, there is an element of dread that he could be triggered to spiral out of control again. We'll just see what happens…_


	9. Chapter 9

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

000

Jeff dashed down the street as fast as his legs would carry him. He cringed inwardly when he spotted Matt waiting outside the restaurant where they were supposed to meet. Even before he could see his brother's face, he could tell just by the older Hardy's body posture that he was not happy. Jeff had no doubt that he would be getting an earful from Matt about running off last night.

However, just as he closed in, Jeff's salvation came from across the street in the form of WWE divas Maria and Mickie James. The girls would be the perfect distraction to keep Matt off the topic of last night's activities.

"Hey, Matt ." Jeff greeted his brother. "I didn't know you had invited the girls to joins us."

Matt blinked and looked over his shoulder. "Oh well I…"

"Hey there," Mickie greeted them. "You guys going to lunch too?"

"Yeah, want to join?" Jeff offered before Matt could say anything.

"Sure!" Maria answered merrily. "It's always more fun when you have two handsome guys with you." She winked at both of them.

The two brothers let out a soft chuckle before following the girls in.

Lunch progressed in a normal manner with the four of them discussing Wrestlemania and the upcoming "Backlash" event. It wasn't until after they had ordered their food that things took an interesting turn when none other than Triple entered the café and sat down at a table not far away from them.

Jeff looked over at Hunter and raised an eyebrow. Hunter looked back out of the corner of his eyes and smiled as he winked at the young Hardy. Jeff couldn't keep himself from smiling a little back.

This little silent exchange was lost on the divas, but not on Matt, who frowned when he noticed it. It was enough to answer his question of where Jeff had been all night.

Jeff continued smiling as he turned his attention from Hunter back to his table. However, his smile faltered when it came face to face with his brother's disproving glare.

"What's he doing here…?" Matt muttered under his breath.

"I'd say he came to get some lunch," Jeff shrugged casually.

Matt gave Jeff a look as if to say, _"You know what I mean…" _and grumbled, "More like he's stalking you."

Jeff rolled his eyes. "He's not stalking me Matt. Could you turn off the big brother protection act for one afternoon?"

"Not if he's still here," Matt growled, quietly.

The younger Hardy rolled his eyes again and sighed, "You're impossible…"

The casualness with which Jeff was handling this situation only seemed to add to his brother's frustration.

"Jeff," Matt took Jeff's face in between his hands and forced his little brother to look him in the eye to show how serious he was. "He's a bad influence. With all the other issues you have going on you don't need Triple H's bad mojo on you too."

Jeff removed his brother's hands from his face, but kept them in his own hands. "Matt, he's not as bad as you think. He only does that manipulative shit to people he feels threatened by. I'm not a threat right now. Besides, I've had bad influences before and gotten through them fine."

Matt opened his mouth to say "Not before they almost destroyed you," but stopped when he noticed the girls were looking at them. He plastered a grin on his face and managed a chuckle. "Don't mind us, brother to brother talk."

"Yeah," Jeff added smiling a little more genuinely. "Matt's all worried about me now that I'm Mr. Money in the Bank."

"Right," Matt muttered.

"I get it," Mickie nodded looking more serious. "I know how it is now that I'm Women's Champion again; everyone has their sights on me."

"Yup, you'd better watch your back," Maria winked at her.

"Uh-oh, Mickie, looks like the gauntlet's been thrown down." Matt teased.

"Anytime, anywhere, Maria," Mickie punched her fist into her other open palm, in mock challenge.

While the others were distracted with their banter, Jeff turned back to Hunter, who looked fully back at him this time. The young Hardy smirked and wobbled his eyebrows in the hintingly seductive manner. Triple H grinned back and with a slight move of his head motioned toward the bathroom. Jeff nodded.

"Bathroom break," Jeff quietly announced to his table as he got up.

"Okay, don't take too long or we'll start to miss you," Maria giggled.

Jeff smiled and winked back at her before continuing to the bathroom. Once inside he made a quick survey of the men's room, and found no one else was in there. A few seconds later Hunter entered behind them.

"Well, since you couldn't stay with me I decided to come to you," Hunter grinned slyly.

"Glad you did," Jeff said as he walked over and locked the door, ensuring they would be left alone in the men's room.

Hunter raised a curious eyebrow at Jeff when the young Hardy looked back at him.

"My brother's been kind of a pain in the ass lately," Jeff muttered.

"Yeah?" Both of Hunter's eyebrows went up with interest at where this was going. "And what do you want to do about it?

Jeff took Hunter's hand and guided it around to his ass. The younger man smirked when his current lover got the reading and gave him a squeeze.

"Let's piss my brother off even more…"

000

Matt tapped his fingers on the table anxiously, while Mickie and Maria exchanged gossip. Jeff had been a long time in the bathroom, and the situation was made even more nerve wracking by the fact that Hunter had gone to the bathroom shortly after Jeff had.

It was when their food finally arrived that Matt decided it was time to check on his brother. However, just as he got up from the table Jeff came out of the bathroom looking no different coming out than he had going in.

"You were in there a long time, are you okay?" Maria asked as Jeff sat down, looking genuinely concerned that the younger Hardy might be sick.

However, Jeff only waved it off with a casual shrug. "I'm fine I just stayed to write a little poetry on the wall."

"Aw, that's cute," Maria giggled.

"Think so?" Jeff grinned back.

Suddenly all eyes shifted to Hunter, who had just come out of the bathroom and sat back down at his table.

"You know he looks so lonely over there all by himself." Maria said sympathetically.

"Yeah," Mickie nodded. "Should we invite him to join us?"

"Yeah!" Maria exclaimed, grabbing Mickie's wrist, and dragging her over toward Triple H before either Mickie or the Hardy's had a chance to protest.

While the girls were busy with Hunter, Jeff turned to Matt, who was grumbling incoherently as he ate his food. The younger Hardy leaned in and whispered in his brother's ear. "I let Hunter fuck me in the bathroom just now."

"You what?!" Matt practically screamed as he jumped up from his seat.

"You heard me," Jeff said defiantly.

Matt just stood there opening and closing his mouth in shocked anger for few moments, before his lips suddenly became a tight thin line. "You know what? Fine! If you're going to keep pulling bratty shit like this just to piss me off when I'm only trying watch your back, then as far as I'm concerned, you're on your own!"

The older Hardy grabbed his wallet and pulled out enough for his food and slammed it down on the table. "If this blows up in your face you can pick up your own damn pieces, 'cause I'm done!"

"Fine!" Jeff shouted to Matt's retreating back.

And with that the older Hardy stormed out of the café. Leaving Jeff glaring after him and everyone in else in the café, including Hunter and the girls open-mouthed in shock...

000

_Oh dear... Matt is not a happy puppy..._


	10. Chapter 10

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_**Author's note:** You have Jeff Hardy himself to thank for me continuing this fic at long last. TNA came to my hometown April 2012, and I finally got to see Jeff Hardy live. He looked just as I remembered him from watching him on TV and he dazzled me with his high flying antics in the ring once more, rekindling my passion for the wrestling fandom._

_From here I am going to diverge a bit from the actual matches/storylines that took place in 2007-2008 for the sake of the plot of the story._ _I mean I am already altering the universe by having Jeff and Hunter have an affair anyway, so yeah..._

000

Jeff Hardy sat patiently in his seat in the airport terminal, his mind wandering off into the black space his shut eyelids provided and the music from his ipod helped take him there. Even though he was completely off in space he became aware of someone else sitting across from him. Normally he would not have bothered to cracked open an eye to see who it was and disturb the lovely blackness behind his lids, but the presence of the other person was a very familiar.

He opened his eyes to see his brother Matt sitting across from him. It made sense they would be in the same terminal since they were both headed home for a few days off, but there were plenty of other seats available.

The older Hardy remained silent, though he kept opening and closing his mouth as if wanting to say something but not sure how to say it. Jeff waited patiently, his face blank, neither happy to see his brother, nor particularly irritated with his presence either.

""Um… Look… " Matt began slowly, finally finding his tongue. "I'm sorry I blew up the other day. I know I was harsh...I didn't mean it to come out that way."

Jeff's face softened into a slight smile. In all honesty he did feel a little guilty about his own conduct the day of their argument, he did provoke Matt after all.

"Well I'm sorry for acting like a brat." Jeff looked down and gently nudged Matt's foot with his toe. "I was pissed, but I shouldn't have done that."

"And I gotta stop butting in and running my mouth," Matt conceded, nudging back. "I just get worried you know, I don't want anything that could trigger you into a downward spiral again."

"I know, and I don't want you worrying, it ain't nothing serious it's just a romp. He's no Trish in my heart that's for damn sure. Eventually he'll get tired of me, move on to some other unexpecting guy and that'll be the end of it." Jeff shrugged casually.

"And you're okay with that? Him just getting bored and moving on? Matt asked cautiously, raising an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I'm not in love with him or anything. It's just kinda like a friends with benefits thing. You know like I had with Candice a while." Jeff said simply, tossing his brother a little smirk.

"Gotcha." Matt said looking a little more relieved and comfortable about the situation. The Candice/Jeff affair had come and gone, and when Candice moved on to pursue a more serious relationship with John Cena, she and Jeff remained friends and neither the worse for it.

Still Candice was not Triple H….

However, Matt decided to put his worry at the back of his mind for now and just trust Jeff's instincts, and tolerate Hunter's presence for Jeff's sake. But to be sure he would be watching Hunter Hearst Helmsley out of the corner of his eye whenever he could.

"All right I'll trust your instincts. " Matt offered his little brother a smile. "And don't worry no matter what I said before, I'll always be there for you."

Jeff smiled back and got up and sat down next to his brother, who gave him a friendly shoulder bump. With that the two brothers settled into a relaxed silence. Matt updated his myspace profile and Jeff shut his eyes zoning out to his music.

Not far away Triple H watched them. He was glad and a little relieved that the brothers had made up. No doubt, if he made himself a wedge between their bond, Jeff would eventually break off his relationship with Hunter, in order to make up with Matt. And Hunter was not ready to give Jeff up yet.

000

Jeff entered one the other larger dressing rooms to use one of their large mirrors to properly paint his face. He decided for fun to go with his charismatic enigma look for this match. Hunter had not sought him out for a Pre match liaison and they were past the Pre-match sex cut off point so he did not have worry about his make up getting messed up.

To his surprise he found he was not alone at the mirror, to his even more surprise he found the other occupant was none other than the Undertaker. The infamous "Deadman" was applying eyeliner to his eyes, while it added to the intensity of his eyes in the ring, it was quite amusing to watch him actually applying it.

"You know I think we're the only two guys in the WWE that can actually pull off this stuff." Jeff said brushing on some light florescent paint starting with his nose and up to cover his forehead.

The Undertaker replied with a non-commital "hm". Jeff shrugged and continued with his design, He had an idea to do something just on one side of his face and neck that would only appear under the florescent lighting of his entrance. He was just beginning the lines on his cheek when Taker finally spoke.

"So how long's this thing between between you and Triple H been going on?"

Jeff smudged his design. "What are you talkin' about?" He answered automatically trying to keep his voice steady.

"Don't play the dumb, with me." Taker said darkly, finishing the liner on one eye before turning to look at Jeff. "You know, I know everything that goes on around here."

Jeff nodded and began fixing his smudged make-up, it was true. The Undertaker had been part of the WWE for a long time, long enough to know the patterns and the signs people put about, so even if he did not know something directly, he could definitely make an educated guess.

"A couple months now," Jeff answered honestly, knowing better to put up a charade to Taker's face, and he doubted Taker would make anything of it or go to the boss, he usually kept himself out of the backstage drama. In Fact Jeff was surprised he asked about it at all.

"Why do you ask?"Jeff smirked. "Jealous?"

Taker let out an amused snort. "Look I got a little bit of advice for you. And if you know what's good for you you'll take it, cause I've seen some of the consequences of H's various intimate "business arrangements."

"Yeah?" Jeff stopped painting and looked at Taker genuinely curious. He did respect the Undertaker, and if the "Deadman" was bothering to talk about it in the first place, it was a good idea to pay attention.

"Whatever you've got arranged with Hunter, keep as much emotion out of it as possible." Taker said directly, when Jeff gave him a perplexed look, he continued. "If you start regarding each other as friends or even just you start thinking of him as a friend, break off the arrangement. You're either his friend or his business lover you can't be both. When the arrangement does comes to an end either mutually or a bad break up, the less emotionally involved you are the better."

"Well I haven't reached that point yet." Jeff said, half truthfully, he had let down his guard and confided in Hunter on some deep stuff about his history, the morning after wrestlemania. While at the time he told Hunter it barely scratched the surface of himself, that was a blind to hide the fact he had spilled some of his soul without intending to. While it was indeed only a single one of many facets of himself, it was one of the facets that lay deep down at the core.

It made him stop and think for moment at just how he had allowed Hunter to reach in so deeply. What made him trust the "The Game" in that moment? The man did have a reputation for manipulation almost as well known as his brute strength. But Jeff had come across that crap many times before and being a perceptive and straight forward person had managed to avoid such things. His success insniffing out a plot was his own brand of unconsciously manipulation, ironically pointed out by Hunter before. He made people believe they were seeing all of him when in truth he was very closed off, they only saw what he wanted them too see. Either way it had made him good as spotting when someone was genuine and when they were not. And he had seen Hunter's manipulative ways first hand when he had tried to seduce him.

But the look in Hunter's eyes and face that day did not show any of that. Maybe that that was it. The master manipulator, the Cereberal Assassin had been actually genuinely concerned about him in that moment, enough to make Jeff at ease enough to show off some of the skeletons in his closet.

Then again Hunter was not known as "The Game" for nothing. Perhaps Taker was right, it would require more reflection.

Meanwhile to The Undertaker Jeff's sudden silence said enough. "Whatever emotion you've put in so far stop it now and pull it back or end the whole arrangement now. If you need more proof that falling for Triple H for real is a bad idea go ask Randy Orton."

Jeff tensed, his grip tightened around his paintbrush so much it cracked. Two thoughts collided at once. One just of Randy Orton himself, Jeff would never forgive him for attacking Matt not long after he had returned from having an emergency appendectomy which ruptured. The attack put his older brother back in hospital. And Rainbow Haired Warrior never felt satisfied with his match and ultimate defeat at the Royal Rumble. His mind was so cloudy with hate and the desire for vengeance, he did not react fast enough for Randy's reversal of his "twist of fate" move. After that Vince McMahon had strategically kept them away from each other in matches and threatened dismissal if either one of them intentionally harmed the other outside of the ring. Both Jeff and Orton were too valuable as crowd draws to risk having them both seriously take each other out. Since then the two rivals had a mutual cold shouldering and avoided each other's presence as much as possible.

The other thought that ran through his head and equally distressing, was the memory of Randy Orton's group Evolution lead by Triple H, suddenly turning on him after winning the World Heavyweight championship, humiliating and beating the holy hell out of him. While Jeff had not been part of the company at that time, he had seen it well enough on television the next night.

Hunter had turned on Randy violently, but up until that point had smiled in Randy's face and hugged him like a friend, until that fateful moment when he gave Orton the thumbs down. Jeff did not know exactly what past relationship Randy and Hunter had, but judging by the shocked sad look on Randy's face just before Batista dropped him, Jeff had a pretty good guess.

Back then Jeff had actually felt sorry for Randy, a lingering feeling that disgusted him now.

"That's my advice take or leave. " Undertaker said went back to working on his other eye.

Jeff snapped of his thoughts at the sound of Taker's voice, and raised his brush to continue but found that by now he had broken it in two. His mind was too jumbled with thoughts now to think of anything elaborate anyway. His eyes wandered around to think of something, when they fell on The Undertakers hat on the counter.

"You know I wonder if I should try a new look, he said putting the hat on and imitating Taker's "rolled back eyes" look.

"The purple hair kills it." Taker snatched his hat back. "You got paint on it. If my hat glows when I go out there you're going to be in for an impromptu casket match after the show."

"Ease up Mark, it'll come right off you can't see it through the material anyway." Jeff said with a chuckle.

"It's still "Taker"to you here." Taker threw him an annoyed look before putting the hat on. Jeff watched a little fascinated at Taker meticulously positioned the hat so it would cast just the right menacing shadow on his face. satisfied he put on his coat and gloves, and after practicing a few glares in the mirror, made his way to the door out of the dressing room.

"Hey Taker." Jeff called after him. "Why take the trouble given me advice?"

"Let's just say I still have just a little bit of respect left for that punk ass kid who had the balls to challenge me to a ladder match back in '02." And he left it at that.

Taker made his way out into the main hallway, he had only made it a few steps away from the dressing room after closing the door when he heard the familiar voice of Triple H behind him and The Game sounded none too happy.

"Hey Mark!,"

Taker turned and fixated Hunter with an icy glare at the sound of his real name.

Hunter strode up to him, and lowered his voice to a whispered growl. "Why don't you do what you do best and stay in the shadows and out of my business!"

It didn't take a genius to guess that Hunter had heard all or part of their conversation. But Just how much Taker didn't know.

"Jeff will do what he wants to do no matter what I say." Taker answered simply. "I was just reminding him what he already knows about you."

"Plus a little advice. Right? Listen if you ruin this for me I'll-"

"You'll what?" Taker stepped closer and used his 6'10" height to its fullest to actually loom over Hunter, and remind him just who he was dealing with.

Hunter let out a frustrated growl, he was in the middle of a title run with Cena and JBL and in no mood to actually pick a fight with The Undertaker. "Just keep to your own business all right?"

Taker straightened and turned to continue down the hallway. "I said my peace all ready, only out of respect for Jeff Hardy. What you two do from here on in, I could care less."

"Good keep it that way." Hunter snapped.

"Now let me give you a little bit of advice." Taker half turned back. "Don't manipulate Hardy into trusting you and then screw him over. You may get more of a handful than you think. He's a loose cannon who can hold a grudge and is not afraid to retaliate. If you need a reminder, ask Orton how it felt when Jeff landed on him from the second level of that lighting fixture."

Taker inwardly smirked at the touch of realization in Hunter's eyes. He turned away and continued walking down the hallway, adding with a smug chuckle. "Not mention you'll have "big brother" Hardy on your ass too, by association."

Triple H watched The Undetaker go, mulling over The Deadman's words. Admittedly there were a couple of things he had not taken into account when he had started this little affair with Jeff Hardy. He forced himself to shrug it off. He had no intention of letting things between him and Jeff get that far or that deep. Although he had to admit he may have gone a little far asking into Jeff's personal troubles and comforting him the morning after Wrestlemania.

What was it that made him actually care? Jeff Hardy had this strange balance between a friendly and carefree attitude to people around him, and yet aloof and closed off in his own little world. Perhaps it was because Jeff had opened up and allowed Hunter a peek into that inner sanctum.

On the other hand Jeff himself had said he only scratched the surface of who Jeff Hardy was, so perhaps it was not as deep an emotional as he had originally thought, which was a bit of a relief, he had not yet crossed the emotional line with Jeff as he had with Randy all those years ago.

As soon as Randy entered his mind he shook his head to clear it. He could not think on that now. He had present troubles with Randy Orton that required his attention, he did not need the past distracting him.

Hunter opened the door to the dressing room Taker had come out of and found Jeff Hardy at the mirror wiping his face with a towel, to get any residual make up off.

With this ready made distraction he walked up unnoticed behind Jeff and snaked his strong arms around Hardy's waist. A smirk crossed his face as he felt the younger man's muscles tense up deliciously, under his hands.

Hardy hesitated for a moment before looking over his shoulder, as casually as possible. "Hey man, what brings you by?"

"Just wanted to wish you luck before your match." Hunter said kissing up Jeff's neck.

Jeff closed his eyes. He had to admit, emotionally involved or not, Hunter's kisses did feel rather nice. He tilted his head to give Hunter better access, and reached back to entwine his fingers into Hunter's hair. Meanwhile his other hand came to rest on top of Hunter's across his abdomen and gently massaged the back of his fingers.

One by one the knots in Jeff's nerves about his upcoming match with Umaga relaxed, to the point where he almost didn't notice Hunter's hand attempting to slide down past the waist band of his pants. Almost.

"Hey,Hey, Hey!" Jeff grabbed Hunter's wrist and pulled his hand out. "We're past the pre-match cut off point for that."

Hunter snapped his fingers. "Slipped my mind. Well think of it as a preview for later."

Jeff chuckled. "I can't garauntee how lively I'll be, a round with the samoan bulldozer doesn't leave me in the best of shape."

"Yeah, nobody is." Hunter said trailing off as the wheels in his head began to turn.

"Hunter?" Jeff quirked an eyebrow at him and waved a hand in front of The Game's face.

"Nothing just thinking." Triple H replied. A cheshire cat grin appeared on his face as he turned to exit. "Good luck tonight Jeff."

He exited leaving a very puzzled Jeff hardy.

About an hour later Jeff found an answer to his puzzle. When he was informed that the match was going to be altered from a straightforward singles bout with Umaga, to something a little chaotic, involving interference from Carlito and Randy Orton of all people.

Umaga had already made his entrance and awaited him in the ring. As Jeff made his way down the ramp, Carlito ran in and attacked him from behind. with a forearm to his back, not a bad hit but enough to knock him down when caught off guard.

Randy ran past him and joined Carlito in the ring to attack Umaga, no doubt in finally taking revenge for when after trying to goad Umaga into attacking John Cena, Umaga had taken out the two of them instead.

Although Jeff had to wonder why now of all times and why Vince would allow him and Orton anywhere near each other. However, Jeff was not going to let an opportunity to take a potshot at Orton no matter how small it may be slip away. He ran towards the ring and slid in, first taking out Carlito with a twist of fate and then glared over at Orton.

The Legend Killer looked up from his beatdown of Umaga, and stepped forward to face Jeff. The two stared each other down, the tension coming off them like waves, infecting the crowd around them, driving the fans into a frenzy wondering who would throw the first punch.

It would be neither of them. Umaga recovered and grabbed Randy from behind and took him down with a samoan drop. He then went for a slam, but Orton rolled out of the way and out of the ring.

Jeff's eyes never left Randy, as the Legend Killer made his way around the ring and back to ramp to stand next to Carlito who had by now recovered from the "twist of fate". Umaga came to stand next to Jeff and to stare down Orton and Carlito. Umaga let out a battle cry daring them to get back into the ring and face them. Jeff's blood was still up and hearing the battle cry, he yelled "Come on!" at Orton. Randy glared back with equal malice like the viper he was nicknamed for. Jeff was about two steps away from jumping over the rope to engage with Randy full on, when General Manager William Regal's music hit.

Regal came out haughtily and stopped at the top of the ramp microphone in hand. "Orton, Carlito, it looks like your decision to reap vengeance on Umaga backfired. But I have a solution. Next week, live on RAW it will be Randy Orton and Carlito versus Umaga and his tag-team partner Jeff Hardy!"

Even in the midst of his anger Jeff couldn't keep the look of surprise from his face, in fact of the four of them only Umaga did not react with a stunned face. Instead of being Umaga's opponent he was his tag team partner for next week? And he was going to get into the ring with Randy Orton? How had this happened? Jeff Hardy wondered if his on and off screen tension with Orton was just too much good TV for Vince to keep putting off.

Then the image of a cheshire cat grin from a certain Cerebral Assassin flashed through his mind. And it all made sense.

000

_There are advantages to having The Game have your back... _


	11. Chapter 11

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

000

Triple H stormed down the hallway, he was being pitted in a triple threat match against JBL and Mr. Kennedy for a chance at the WWE title in Randy Orton's possession. Hence he was seeking out Jeff Hardy for a little "warm-up".

He finally located the Rainbow Haired warrior in one of the locker rooms painting Jamal "Umaga" Fatu's face of all things. Jeff was adding his own artistic twist to Umaga's signature samoan face markings.

"How's it looking?" Umaga asked.

"Man you're gonna look so bad ass," Jeff Hardy grinned, "You'll give The Undertaker a run for his money."

"Perfect." Umaga smirked

Suddenly, the door flung open and Triple H entered, startling both men, luckily Jeff hadn't put the brush back on Umaga's face yet. Hunter looked between the two of them a little perplexed, he did not know they were on friendly terms.

"You two know each other?" Hunter quirked an eyebrow

"Yeah, back when Jamal here was part of "3 Minute Warning"" Jeff said going back to painting. "We put each other through some tables."

"Correction, I put you through a table." Umaga corrected with a grin.

"More like laid me out on a table. And then sat on it."

"From the top rope!"

Triple H shook his head in annoyance. He did not have time for this.

"Jeff I need to talk to you. Now." Hunter said in a low stern voice.

Jeff by this time knew all of Hunter's code words for their little meetings. "Talk" usually meant he needed to have quick, pre-match sex.

"All right, give me five minutes I'm almost done." Jeff replied not looking away from his face painting.

"Now!"

"Five minutes!" Jeff snapped finally looking at him. "You can't let Jamal go out and cut a promo half painted."

Hunter let out a frustrated snort, but turned toward the door. "Five minutes." He said before leaving.

Umaga watched Hunter go and then looked back at Jeff very confused. "What's with him?"

Jeff shrugged and played it off casual. "Who knows? He's just an impatient guy."

Sure enough, exactly 5 minutes later Hunter came tromping back in. Luckily by that time Jeff had finished and was packing away his paint while Umaga practiced frightening facial expressions in the mirror.

Hunter grabbed his arm and practically dragged him out of the room.

"Hey, ow what's the matter with you? There's plenty of time." Jeff said managing to wriggle his arm free from Hunter's grip, but continued to follow in step next to him

"I have an interview soon and there won't be time after that." Hunter said shortly, in clipped words making his annoyance known.

"Yeah, well, still ease up on the unnecessary roughness. I'm your sex toy not your punching bag." Jeff quipped with a smirk.

Hunter looked over at Jeff in surprise then his angry tension broke and he laughed. The bonus Hunter found when he started his affair with the Rainbow Haired Warrior, was Jeff always seemed to know how to make him laugh. There were few people who could do it so easily.

They quickly found an empty room. Hunter pushed Jeff inside, and locked the door.

"What's with you, man?" Jeff rubbed the part of his back where Hunter had pushed him.

"What do you mean?" Hunter quirked an eyebrow.

"I mean I'm the one who's about to get fucked, but you're the one acting like you've got something up your ass."

"Shut up and strip."

Jeff rolled his eyes and began to undo the beltbuckle of his pants. No sooner had he undressed than he felt himself being pressed up against the wall. He realized it was going to be one of those quick and rough sessions. Hunter must have a high stakes match next, the stress and his nerves and adrenaline causing problems in more ways than one. Jeff guessed Hunter probably already had a hard on when he first sought him out. No wonder he was so impatient when Jeff asked him to wait five minutes.

Jeff grimaced, as Hunter entered him and began thrusting. When Jeff first experienced these rougher session, or "Love maulings" as he had come to call them, he did not like them at all, mainly because of how sore it made his body feel afterward. However, after a couple of times and some advice from Hunter, he figured out could move his body in time to Hunter's rhythm in order to spare his back and body from the full brunt of Hunter's movements, Jeff began to discover these love maulings were not all bad. All the musk, pheromones, adrenaline and just primal energy coming off Hunter seemed to flow into Jeff and set his heart to pumping. The endorphines raging through his nerves breaking up any nervousness or tension. It was almost the same kind of rush he got when he was in the ring, the crowd rising to their feet as he rose to perform the swanton bomb from a particularly high location.

So even though he felt sore in the aftermath, he felt a strange, exciting energy coursing through him, that made him want to just fly into the ring.

000

Jeff's tag-team match had gone well. It had ended in a victory thanks to a swanton bomb followed by a samoan spike. Although it was a bit disappointing by the fact that it was not to Randy that those two things had been delivered.

At the beginning of the match Orton had some how slithered out of the fight by virtue that he had to save himself for the people paying to watch him defeat his opponent at Backlash. He announced his replacement to be John Morrison.

Oh well, if he couldn't nail Randy, watching a past rival getting tossed around by Umaga would have to suffice.

The present found Jeff sitting in the hotel courtyard. Even though it was 11 at night it was warm out and Jeff wasn't ready to sleep just yet.

Jeff found his solitude broken when a familiar figure sat down on the bench next to him. Despite knowing who it was without looking up from his texting, Jeff jumped a little when a strong arm was slung around his shoulder.

"Yo." Jeff greeted Hunter casually not looking up from the text he was writing to his brother. Hunter leaned in to peek at what Jeff was writing, but without missing a beat or looking up Jeff put up a hand and pushed The Game's head away."Congrats on winning, Cena and JBL put you through some paces. No wonder you you were so stressed out before the match."

"Yeah, Championship shot on top of it too, but you took care of that stress pretty well." Hunter grinned kissing Jeff on the side of the head.

Jeff smiled and finished his text before finally turning to face Hunter. "Here's a favor you can do for me. Beat the holy hell out of Orton for me?"

Hunter chuckled. "I think I can manage that. You could always cash in the money in the bank and make it a triple threat and do it yourself."

Jeff shook his head regretfully. "Naw, they got me booked to face Morrison for my Intercontinental Championship."

"Oh yeah I forgot about that." Hunter said leaning back and looking up at the sky. "When do you think you will?"

Jeff smiled and looked up at the stars thoughtfully. "I wanna find just the right moment to do it that'll blow people's minds."

"Can't wait to see it. Hopefully I won't be on the receiving end." Triple H smirked.

"Well you know me, always expect the unexpected." Jeff smirked back. "And a good policy to follow with you too."

"Heh. Too true." Hunter chuckled.

After a rather thick silence with Jeff just quite literally staring off into space, Hunter just lazily gazed around the courtyard, his eyes scanning over the modern art amongst the foilage. Honestly, how people could call certain things art was beyond him. One of the "sculptures" just looked like a big piece of twisted junk metal.

Coming off the high from the show, he still was not ready for sleep, but he was bored of just sitting here in silence so he nudged Jeff hoping, the younger man had some entertaining insight.

"Jeff?" Hunter looked over at his companion who didn't respond. Hunter rolled his eyes and gently nudged Jeff out out of his trance.

"Hm?" Jeff looked at him as if he had been awoken from sleep even though he had still been conscious.

"Hey space case," Hunter said with a chuckle. "Maybe you can answer my question, what makes that art?" He cocked his head toward the metal sculpture.

"Someone took the time to mold it, weld it, shape it into something else." Jeff said simply.

"Yeah but what? It still looks like scrap metal to me." Hunter shrugged. "Oh and don't give me that "it's up to the viewer's own interpretation" cop out, I've sat here trying to figure it out and I'm coming up with nothing."

A small mysterious smile crossed Jeff's face. "Maybe you just need to look at it from a different perspective." He got up from the bench and walked over with a casual relaxed swagger, that had strange sensuality to it, at least from where Hunter was sitting. Without even a command or motion from Jeff, he got up and followed.

"Now lie down." Jeff said as Hunter came to stand beside him.

He quirked an eyebrow at Jeff. Normally he didn't like the idea of lying down and getting his clothes dirty over a sculpture, but the intense look in Jeff's eyes and that strange smile on his face made him obey, just out of sheer curiosity of where this was going.

Jeff lay down next to him, his body going in the opposite direction, but his head was right next to Hunter's. "Now you've got one perspective and I've got another, now tell me what you see."

"Uh...metal." Hunter said flatly, partly just to tweak Jeff a little.

Jeff let out a patient sigh. "Instead of just looking at the material look at the form is shapes, what's it remind you of?" He turned his head to look at Hunter, who turned his head to look at him in return, their faces less than an inch apart. "Think of it like it's alive."

"Alive?" Hunter looked at him curiously.

Jeff nodded and looked back up at the sculpture. Hunter blinked and did the same. He studied the lines of the sculpture carefully, and then he saw it. They looked human. He could define two heads, hands feet and other limbs all entwined together almost like...

"It looks like two people hugging." Hunter said after a few minutes turning his head to Jeff again.

Jeff turned to look at him again, "Nice one. I was going to say wrestling, but lovers works too."

"Could be both, they could be wrestling in bed." Hunter laughed and Jeff chuckled.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence until Jeff suddenly spoke. "If you came from one one of those stars which one would it be?"

"Me? Hm. Hadn't really thought about it. I didn't think I might be an alien or something." Hunter chuckled, which earned him a soft laugh from Jeff as well. "But, I think I like that big shiny star right in the middle of Orion's belt there."

"Champion on another planet huh?" Jeff said laughter evident in his voice.

"The planet of champions." Hunter smirked. He suddenly felt soft fingers in his hair, and closed his eyes enjoying the feeling Jeff gently caressing his hair, and his soft voice laced with that thick southern accent was wonderfully soothing. He should let Jeff yammer on quietly after matches more often.

"I wonder what it would be like to look at this planet as someone from outerspace." Jeff said distantly. "What our world looks like from the eyes of someone from Mars or something"

Suddenly the gently caresses stopped and Jeff went silent. Hunter looked over at the Rainbow Haired Warrior who was staring intently up at the stars. Jeff had that distant expression that always seemed to come across his face when he was in his own little world and not really seeing what he was staring at. When the Rainbow Haired Warrior was in one of those zones Hunter would give anything to get in Jeff's head and see what was going on in there.

Back when they were friends, Edge had once said about the younger Hardy's mind that if it was not a frightening place and was as serene and calm as he thought it was, then it might be a nice place to take a vacation. It was true, most of the time when Jeff zoned out in thoughtful distance like he was now, he did have an air of calm about him. However, Hunter had seen other moments, when the intensity of Hardy's distant eyes would make the Undertaker flinch. Those were the times when he did not want to know what was going on.

On the other hand, for someone who allowed himself to drift off into space and zone out, Jeff seemed to be in perfect control of his mental capicities when he was having sex, orgasm and all. The voice that moaned Hunter's name was always firm and semi-coherent, never rasping in an overcome, ecstasy ridden whisper. And afterwards when he looked into those emerald eyes there was still something guarded, like they were looking through him instead of letting him in. He wondered if Jeff just ever really let himself go, ever let himself be conquered or pleasured, it was as if like he put up a wall between himself and Hunter, so the Game would never truly see him vulnerable. Perhaps that was one of the things that kept Hunter interested, he wanted to break down those walls to find out who Jeff Hardy truly was.

And yet Hunter could relate. He always had to keep up his reputation as "The Game" and the "King of Kings" never truly letting go himself, not allowing anyone to see him spent and vulnerable, with exceptions of Stephanie and Shawn Michaels, whom he trusted with his life.

Perhaps that was it. Jeff didn't trust him. He couldn't blame the younger Hardy for that either, he did not exactly have a reputation for being a trustworthy guy. Besides why did he want to know about Jeff that much anyway? He was just in it for the sex and some entertaining companionship right?

Well that's what he had intended anyway, just to have the Jeff Hardy experience for awhile, and then move on. But what he had found was the most unique person he had ever met. He did at times wonder if Jeff Hardy did come from another planet. A star child.

And he found it increasingly harder to regard Jeff Hardy as simply just another notch on his belt.

"Jeff?" Hunter finally said after awhile.

Jeff turned to look at him that mysterious smile back on his face, but the intense, focused look was gone and replaced by a sparkle, like the stars they were looking at. Was Jeff happy about what he had said about the star question before?

"I think I see the stars in your eyes, Jeff," Hunter suddenly said. What made him say it he did not know, but he kind of felt stupid for its corniness.

Jeff's smile broadened and he rolled up on his elbows to hover above Hunter's face. "And I think I see them in your eyes too."

Hunter blinked a little surprised that Jeff shared the sentiment, but unlike himself, Jeff didn't seem embarrassed at all in saying it. There was something different in Jeff's eyes that he had not seen before. Some of the walls were down, similar to when they had been the morning after Wrestlemania when Jeff confessed about his troubled past. But this time they seemed filled with a calm joy, instead of an abyss of despair. It was the eyes of someone who in this moment was perfectly content.

And Hunter wished he could share in that feeling, as the feeling of perfect contentment came so rare. As if Jeff read his mind, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on Hunter's forehead. His calm aura seemed to spread and absorb into Hunter, and The Game felt every tense muscle in his body relax.

"Goodnight." Jeff suddenly said getting up. "Thanks for sharing."

Hunter blinked a couple of times a little startled at Jeff's abrupt leaving. It took him a few seconds to collect his thoughts and get up. Jeff had already disappeared into the building, and Hunter made his way over there in a little bit of a daze. The only other people that made him feel so calm and relaxed were Stephanie and the kids.

Maybe he would have to rethink his position with Jeff Hardy. But what had made Jeff open up more to him?

Perhaps because it was Triple H had stepped outside of himself. He had never before laid on the ground to look at a sculpture or talk about the stars with another guy. At least not since he was a kid. For the at little moment in time he had put away his "Game" facade and Jeff had reciprocated.

Hunter did admit it was nice shedding his persona for awhile and be carefree. Maybe with Jeff he would not be afraid to do it more often.

000

I think this is one of my fav chapters so far.


	12. Chapter 12

**AUTHOR'S NOTE PLEASE READ:** I am going to change my own canon here in the story. I am going to rewrite the flashback in chapter 8 to have it set after Jeff's match in Ring of Honor when he was booed and jeered at before, during and after the match. It was sad to watch. This and Edge's involvement is going to come into play majorly later on.

_Big Thank You to my beta reader Blazing Glory and my friend Writer Chica who make sure this story gets to you in readable fashion._

0000

Jeff yawned as he trudged down the hallway past the locker rooms, it had been a rough match and his back was really paying for that missed swanton. He hoped Hunter wasn't looking for some post-show action.

Speaking of the Game he found it curious that the door to Triple H's private locker room was slightly open. Following his curiosity he peeked in. To his surprise he saw Triple H sitting on a bench slumped over staring at his phone in his hands. It was an odd sight. Indeed he had never seen The Game so dejected before, it was just downright weird.

What could possibly have Hunter this down? The first thought that popped into his head was Stephanie asking for a divorce, but if news like that had occurred no doubt it would have spread through the entire backstage. Gossip and rumors here traveled faster than in a sorority, and the bigger it was, the faster it traveled.

Jeff's first instinct was to go in and find out what was wrong, but then he recalled The Undertaker's advice to not get emotionally involved, he'd already crossed that line dangerously twice, particularly the other night when he and Hunter had talked about the stars.

He had genuinely enjoyed spending such casual time with Hunter and had been delighted when Hunter had actually gone along with his random questions about the stars and the sculptures with sincerity. Even if some responses were in jest, none of it was mean spirited and they both laughed. Some the other wrestlers and divas would just look at him funny and walk off or scoff in that "you are wasting my time" tone, and in truth he had expected that same thing from Hunter. But apparently The Game had a small eccentric spirit hidden just below the surface. After all he and Shawn Michaels had performed some rather crazy antics as DX.

It was hard to remember that crazy, more lighthearted side of Hunter, when he walked around backstage in a designer suit with that "King of Kings" air about him and that annoyingly smug smile on his face. It made Jeff wonder what else Hunter was capable of doing if that eccentric side was awakened a little bit more.

Being ever the risk taker he put Taker's warning to the back of his head and knocked on the door to the locker room to announce his presence, allowing Hunter to collect himself before his entered. Even though he thought it was a little silly he respected Triple H's desire to keep up his facade even in front of him, unless he chose to put it down willingly.

He heard a startled intake of breath from Hunter, before a raspy, "Who is it?"

"It's Jeff."

There was a silence for a few breaths. Jeff wondered if perhaps Hunter too was thinking they were getting a little too close as well and wanted to put in some separation. He would leave it in Hunter's hands then to set the barrier, since it was Hunter who had asked into Jeff's more personal affairs in the first place.

After a few more beats, Jeff was about to walk away assuming Hunter was going to tell him to leave him alone, when he heard a soft, "Come in".

Now the ball was in his court, should he just walk away? At the same time he was dying to find out what had put Hunter into such depressed stupor. Taking a deep breath he steeled himself and walked inside, keeping his posture and demeanor casual.

"Hey man, I just wanted check and see if you were going to need me tonight," Jeff said, it wasn't entirely false as he wanted that question answered too, before he made other plans.

"Oh... No I won't need anything." Hunter shook his head, his voice sounding distant and despondent.

Jeff was a little taken aback, he'd never heard Hunter's voice like that before. Here again was another chance for him to just walk away and keep things from getting any more personal. Yet, he feet wouldn't budge, he was not sure if it was his conscience telling him it wasn't right to just leave a depressed person behind, or maybe his heart saying he genuinely cared about Hunter's well being. He decided to put the ball back into Hunter's court, perhaps a dismissal from The Game would get him to move.

"You all right?" Jeff asked, expecting the game to reply with a "none of your business" remark. However Triple H just looked him up and down silently for moment before looking away back at his phone and gave the vague answer of "not really."

Jeff just stood there awkwardly not sure whether Hunter wanted him to leave or stay. "I'm sorry to hear that." He said quietly.

At the continued silence, Jeff decided to take it as the end of the conversation. "Well I'll see you around then."

Just as he reached the door, he nearly jumped when Hunter spoke. "Aurora's sick."

Jeff froze with his hand on the doorknob. It took a moment for his brain to process. Aurora was Hunter and Stephanie's daughter. No wonder Hunter looked so down.

Jeff turned around and walked back over to the bench and took a seat next to Hunter. There was no going back now. "Is it serious?"

"Maybe." Hunter answered not looking up from his phone. "The docs think it might be Pertussis, they want to run some tests and keep her in hospital for a night."

Jeff couldn't help, but feel his heart sink a little. He had been there and back with Matt, and that was his grown brother, he couldn't imagine what it must be like with a child. On impulse he reached out and placed a hand on Hunter's shoulder. "I'm here for ya' man."

He felt Hunter's muscles tense under his hand and wondered if he had made a turned to look at him, not bothering to hide any worry or sadness in his eyes this time. He put a hand over Jeff's and gave him a half smile. "Thanks."

Jeff smiled back and in an effort to lighten the mood said. "Now we'd better get out of here before someone passes by and starts to suspect somethin' even if it is true."

The Game's smile broadened a little and he let out an amused snort. He patted Jeff's hand and stood up , shouldering his duffel bag. Jeff followed suit and made his way toward the door, Hunter following close behind.

They walked back to the hotel next door in companionable silence. It wasn't until they were in the elevator that Triple H finally spoke.

"Jeff, um would you mind staying with me tonight?" When Jeff looked at him with a raised eyebrow, he continued. "We don't have to do anything. I just need some distraction, or I'm going to be calling Steph every two minutes, and she's got enough on her hands without a panicked husband calling her all the time. I'd ask Shawn but he's off and..."

"Sure." Jeff interrupted the trailing request with a small smile and a nod. "I'll hang out with you. I can't promise I'll be as entertaining as Shawn, but I'm pretty good at distracting people."

Despite his downcast demeanor Hunter let out a soft chuckle. "I know you are."

Once inside Hunter tossed his stuff onto the bed, sat down and buried his face in his hands. "What if it is Pertusis? That kills kids you know?"

Jeff only stood in front of him and nodded. "Well they don't know yet, maybe it's not as bad as you think."

"Poor Steph, she shouldn't be dealing with this not now. She's six months pregnant for God sake." Hunter ran his hands through his hair and then clenched at it. "And I'm here and I can't do anything to help her."

Jeff wracked his brain for something to say, this situation was quite a bit different than when he was dealing with Matt in the hospital. However, it was not needed as Hunter's worries continued.

"Oh god what if the stress causes her to miscarry?" Suddenly he wrapped his arms around Jeff's waist and buried his face in Jeff's abdomen. " What if I lose them both Jeff? My little girls."

Jeff opened and closed his mouth several times trying to find something to say. He could feel Hunter's body shake from held back sobs, making his own heart pain a little sympathy, which made thinking the right thing to say even harder. He placed a gentle hand on Hunter's head and stroked his hair, and his other hand rubbed his back.

"Come on man." Jeff said softly. "They're your daughters, if they're anything like you or Steph for that matter, they'll be strong enough to make it. If she's taken after you, even at two Aurora's is probably too stubborn to let a little old whooping cough get the best of her. And I'm sure the other one is going to make her debut just fine."

They remained like that for several minutes as Hunter collected himself. Slowly his body stopped shaking and he eased his grip on Jeff's shirt. Finally he lifted his head and pulled away a little, though he kept his hands on Jeff's waist.

"Thanks Jeff." He said quietly, the worry was still in his eyes, but there was relief mixed in there too. Sometimes it just helped to get the worries out to someone else. After a few breaths he finally pulled away from Jeff completely.

"Sorry you have to see me like this." Hunter continued his voice sounding weary, but more like it's usual confident tones. "I know that wasn't part of what we originally agreed upon."

"It's cool," Jeff gave him a casual smile and a shrug. "I just go with the flow."

Jeff sat down next to Hunter on the bed. "Besides I know where you are coming from. Being stuck far away from someone you love when they're sick, maybe in danger. I still remember gettin' that call about Matt's appendix, something that should have been a quick procedure got dangerous when it ruptured and the abscess draining on top of that."

Jeff pulled one leg up to his chest and rested his arm and head against it. Hunter watched as the Rainbow Haired Warrior's eyes turned sad and almost fearful. "Every minute I lived in dread that I was going to get a call that my brother was dead, from one of the procedures or an infection or something."

He turned his head to look at Hunter. "So I kinda know where you're coming from. I can't imagine what it would be like if it was my child."

Triple H nodded, patting Jeff on the back. "I just gotta tell myself that if it were as bad as I think it is, Stephy would be sending a private jet to come and fetch me."

Jeff gave a weary smile and closed his eyes. "Yeah. Little harder to tell with Matt, even if he were dying he'd tell me not to worry about him."

"Heh. I can see that."

Suddenly Jeff's eyes opened again, the sadness was back and surprisingly a touch of anger. "That's why I can't forgive Randy for what he did. His attack put Matt back in the hospital again. He put my brother in that danger just to get at me. Made me watch, knowing I was so close, but too far away to help my brother. And he just stood and gloated. He's never apologized and he looks at me with that smug ass smile. If he wants a grudge match he'll get it."

Hunter was noticeably a little caught off guard at how angry this conversation had become. Not that he could blame Jeff, Randy Orton had learned very well on how to attack his opponents where they hurt most and always justify it to himself. The sad thing was Randy had learned that best from Triple H himself.

Hunter began rubbing Jeff's back between his shoulder blades hoping to relax some of the tension and anger out of him. With a sigh of some regret, he reflected back on Randy. He did what he had to do, or what he thought he had to do back then. Randy was getting too smart, too ambitious, he had to turn on Randy, before Randy turned Evolution on him. Still a part of him held on to the terrible guilt in betraying that love and trust and admiration Randy had held for him back then. He could still see those sad, shocked eyes as clear as day.

"Thanks, that felt nice." Jeff said quietly, startling Hunter out of his thoughts.

Triple H had not noticed he had stopped massaging Jeff's shoulders. "Uh, you're uh... hm." Hunter groped for a change of subject, they last thing he wanted to think about with everything else going on was Randy.

"So... What was with all the face paint in 2003?" Hunter said out of the blue.

"Huh?" Jeff looked over at him with a raised eyebrow. "That's a change of subject." He said an edge of suspicion in his voice.

Hunter shrugged. "I don't know it just seemed like you had more color on your face than in your hair."

"Oh, that." Jeff relaxed a little and kept his voice casual, though he couldn't quite look Hunter in the eye. "Well it was part of my charismatic enigma persona over at T- the other place." Jeff said with a small smirk refraining from mentioning the rival company TNA whom he had worked for after being released from WWE back in 2003.

"You can say it I won't tell Vince." Hunter chuckled winking at him. "I don't remember the charismatic enigma thing for WWF back then though."

With a weary sigh, Jeff lay back down on the bed staring distantly up at the ceiling."Well let's just say sometimes when I don't like what I see in the mirror, I cover it up."

"Oh..." Hunter absently scratched the back of his head, so much for trying to lighten things up. "Sorry I'm not trying to bring up sad stuff on purpose, really."

"It's cool, man. Legit question." Jeff shrugged, eyes shifting to Hunter, when the other man did not turn to look at him, he looked back up at the ceiling. "Well let me try to find something. Let's see... Well there is something I have been meaning to ask you. It's been kinda gnawing on me since this started."

"Yeah?" Hunter looked over his shoulder at Jeff.

"Does Stephanie know about us? I mean you and me?" Jeff asked cautiously, sitting up to look Hunter intently in the eye. He had worried about that in the back of his mind since this started. Hunter had told him he and Stephanie had an understanding, but he had never been truly satisfied with that answer. After witnessing what Matt went through with Lita and Edge going behind his back, and the ruin of both relationships and friendship, the last thing Jeff wanted was to be the wedge breaking up a marriage.

"Yeah." Hunter answered with a casual shrug of his shoulders, as if the answer were the most obvious thing in the world. However when he saw the unconvinced look on Jeff's face he continued. "Don't worry you're not a home wrecker."

"You sure?" Jeff still looked concerned, "I don't want to end up being the "Edge" in this situation."

Hunter nodded remember the chaos surrounding the whole Matt Hardy-Lita-Edge affair. No doubt being Matt's brother Jeff got the windfall by association. To ease Jeff's mind once and for all Hunter pulled out his cell phone and went back through his text history. "Here. These are the texts from when I told her about you."

Jeff read through them, an amused smile slowly crossing his face as he did so...

_Steph: So anything "new" lately? It's been awhile. _

_Hunter: As a matter of fact tonight I started a little thing with Jeff. _

_Steph: What? Jeff?! Wait... Jeff Hardy or Jeff Jarrett?_

_Hunter: Jeff Hardy_

_Steph: WHAT?! You're with skittlehead?_

_Hunter: Yup. I'm getting a little taste of the rainbow._

_Steph: I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. What caught your eye that you didn't see before?_

_Hunter: I don't know, maybe the fact he actually beat me for real at Armageddon without a little assistance from "Big Brother". Or maybe it was Survivor series we made a pretty good team. He's just... unique._

_Steph: That's an understatement. Keep me posted, CuddleBear._

"CuddleBear?" Jeff looked back up at Hunter with a raised eyebrow, but an amused smile on his face.

"Eh. Nickname she came up with when we started dating, and it just kinda stuck." Hunter shrugged smiling back.

Jeff seemed satisfied with the evidence and handed the phone back to Hunter. "You sure don't exactly have the conventional marriage do ya'?"

"Well, we aren't exactly conventional people." Hunter pointed out matter of factly. "It's not one sided, she has her private life too. And you know I can't booty call her every time I have needs, particularly if she's across the country. Besides, in a few more years when I cut back my schedule a lot I'll be ready to settle down monogamously. I guess she and I wanted to make sure earlier on that when our time in the limelight was over we'd have something to go back home to."

"I guess that makes sense." Jeff smirked and gave Hunter's arm a soft punch,"You do have a lot of 'needs'."

Hunter chuckled softly, and lay down on the bed hands behind his head. "At least I'm not lying to her about it. Unlike other more 'conventional' marriages."

"You got a point there," Jeff said suddenly distant.

"Did I say something wrong?" Hunter looked sideways at him.

"It's not you, Matt, Lita and Edge popped into my head."

"Messy business huh?"

"Yeah. They'd been together six years. Matt was this close to asking her to marry him when he found out." Jeff said holding his thumb and forefinger close together. "I think the fact that it was Adam hurt him even more."

Hunter nodded. "Must have sucked to be in the middle too."

"It was weird." Jeff let out a weary sigh and shook his head. "I mean my loyalty was with my brother of course. I was pissed that they'd broken his heart so bad, but Adam and Lita had been my friends too for the last five years, it was weird to have it all end overnight."

"I'm surprised you're not trying to take Edge out like you want to with Randy. For hurting your brother I mean."

"It's a completely different situation. It's mainly Matt's business, I'm just there as back up if Matt needs me. And I know it sounds crazy but I don't think Adam intended to hurt Matt, the problem was he put his own wants and desire for Lita before his friendship, I just don't think he thought through of the consequences of his actions. I can see how that can happen a little too easily." Jeff's eyes looked sad for moment then narrowed to an intense anger that sent a small chill down Hunter's spine and made him sit up. "Randy though, he attacked when Matt didn't have the strength to fight back and he timed it so I would be far enough away in the ring where I couldn't help him. He attacked Matt, put him back in the hospital, put his life at risk just to get at me."

Hunter was sympathetic but remained silent, he had been through that kind of thing before both in Jeff's position and Randy's as the aggressor.

"And I couldn't be cruel or stay mad at Adam for long." Jeff said his voice softening a little.

"Why not?"

"Because way back when, when I need a friend more than ever, and Matt was across the country Adam was there for me." Jeff said softly keeping his eyes averted.

"You are still talking about Edge right?" Hunter asked a little surprised at what he was hearing to say the least.

Jeff nodded a wry smile on his face. "Let' just say when I told you that someone knocking on my hotel room door, distracted me from jumping off that balcony, well the person on my doorstep kept me distracted that night so I wouldn't take it into my head to try again."

Hunters eyes widened a little in surprise. "Adam?"

"Matt and I seem to have a sixth sense about each other." Jeff said a sad smile crossing his face. "His big brother senses were tingling that night and he called Adam to check me. RAW was in the next town from Ring of Honor. Adam drove I don't know how many miles just to make sure I was okay and stayed with me that night."

Hunter's eyes widened in utter shock. He just could not believe that ruthless, opportunistic, sneaky little shit of a blonde would do that for some else. Then again Triple H was guilty of being cruel one moment and kind the next.

"What is it about you that makes me spill out the dark secrets in my head?" Jeff looked over at Hunter and amused smirk on his face.

"Just special I guess." Hunter said with a half cheshire cat grin.

"On the other hand I haven't revealed anything you could blackmail me with. I'm pretty sure half the roster assumes I made an attempt to take myself out years back." That wry smile appeared on Jeff's face again, but Hunter saw some genuine sadness in his eyes, before Jeff looked away. "They'd probably look at you and go, "Yeah, and...'"

Hunter sat up and put a hand on Jeff's shoulder. Although in truth back in 2003-2004 if someone had told him Jeff Hardy had committed suicide he would not have been that surprised. Somehow it sounded darker and more cruel when he heard Jeff say it out loud.

"Don't say that about yourself Jeff." Hunter said softly.

Jeff looked back at Hunter, the sadness ebbing away from his eyes and a genuine smile on his face. "Thanks man."

"Well I got a secret. At least a funny." Hunter said.

"I think a funny secret is just what we need right now." Jeff chuckled.

"All right. When Aurora was almost a year old, Steph brought her to one of the shows. It was in our home town. Long story short, she got pulled into an impromptu executive meeting, leaving Aurora with me to babysit. Now by this time even though I was a first time father, I was pretty competent and figuring out what was wrong when she cried. What Steph forgot to tell me was Aurora was still teething, her damn molars were coming in."

"So you were stuck with a screaming baby looking like a useless idiot?" Jeff smirked, picturing a frantic Triple H trying to get his baby daughter to calm down..

Hunter gave Jeff a gentle shove. "A little harsh, but about right."

"So what did you do?" Jeff grinned, eager to hear the rest.

Hunter sighed looking a little embarrassed. "I went begging for help."

"You? Beg? From who?"

"Another guy who I could semi-trust who had two daughters of his own."

"Taker?!"

"Yeah..." Hunter rubbed his temples. "If it wasn't me doing the begging, it would have been hilarious to watch. It was about 10 minutes before his match, so he was all dressed in his Deadman garb."

Jeff closed his eyes just picturing The Undertaker in full wrestling attire, trench coat, hat and eyeliner, looking all menacing and evil, and poor Hunter, crying daughter in his arms, looking pathetic.

"I'm sorry, that's just way too funny." Jeff laughed heartily.

"It's not that funny." Hunter pouted.

"The hell it's not! Now what happened, did he help you?"

"Yeah. He got a frozen waffle from catering and it worked like a charm." Hunter rolled his eyes. "I beg the Undertaker for help and all it took was a frozen waffle." Suddenly Hunter chuckled too. "You're right it is that funny."

The two men burst out into renewed laughter. After a couple of minutes when the laughter calmed a bit, this time it was Hunter's face that grew sad thinking of his daughter.

"I hope she's okay." Hunter buried his face in his hands.

Jeff reached over and patted Hunter's back, "Look man you've gotta leave for your flight in 4 hrs. why don't you try to get some shut eye so you'll be a little rested when you see your family."

Hunter shook his head running his hands through his hair. "I don't know if I could. I'd be too worried I would miss something. Call from Steph about her condition."

"Look I'll stay up and wake you if the phone rings. Come on man you look beat." Jeff said genuine concern showing in his eyes.

"You sure?" Hunter looked at him genuinely surprised by his offer. "You look tired yourself."

Jeff shook his head. "Nah. I'm in one of my restless moods.. My body may be tired, but my brain is too busy to turn off.."

"You don't have to you know." Hunter said.

"I know." Jeff said simply. "Offer still stands."

"Thanks Jeff." Hunter said looking genuinely grateful for the offer, a rare sight on his face.

"You're welcome." Jeff said, then a teasing smirk crossed his face. "But don't expect me to tuck you in."

Hunter chuckled. "I think I can handle it.

It took almost an hour for Triple H to fall fully asleep. Jeff had gone out on the balcony to smoke a cigarette to give Hunter some privacy while he tried to fall asleep. However, The Game's head was just too full, he kept tossing and turning. When Jeff came back in even though Hunter's eyes were closed he was still conscious.

Jeff settled down next to Hunter with his sketch book. He noticed Hunter's eyes were squeezed shut as if he were forcing them closed rather than closing naturally. "Still awake huh?"

"Yeah..." Hunter mumbled. "Too worried. Could you just keep talking to me so can concentrate on something else?"

"You want me to read you a fairy tale or somethin'?" Jeff chuckled teasingly.

"Whatever. I just like hearing your voice." Hunter murmured absently scooting a little closer to Jeff so part of his head was touch his arm.

Jeff couldn't keep a little surprise and a genuine smile from his face at the compliment. "Well let's see if I can think of something."

"There's a fairytale I remember from when I was a kid. One of the few things I vividly remember with my mom, listening to them." Jeff's eyes took on a distant but fond look in his eyes. "Heh. Although I've heard to so many versions of it from different people it's hard to remember how she told it."

"What's it about?" Hunter asked softly with a yawn.

"It's kinda one of those ones you just have to tell." Jeff shrugged.

"No one's stopping you."

"Well once upon a time or somethin'..."

"_In the year 1701 There was a small village, along the coast of North Carolina, like any other town, small, but fairly prosperous. Then a mysterious young man appeared in the town one stormy night. He stayed in the town's church to sleep out of the rain, then made a small home for himself deep in the forest nearby. And only appeared in town to purchase supplies occasionally._

_The villagers were always suspicious of strangers, particularly one who did not properly announce themselves, however as the young stranger kept to himself, and was no bother, so they left him to his own. They did not even know the location of his home._

_One day the Mayor's son went hunting in the woods and injured by a bear protecting her cubs. When he came to, he was in the home of the stranger. The young man was unlike anyone the mayor's son had ever seen before, with his tattoos and his fair hair dyed different colors. _

_The stranger nursed the mayor's son back to health. They became fast friends. Although the stranger neither revealed where he came from or even his real name. Every other day the mayor's son went to visit his new friend and learn new things about the forest, the stars and lands across the sea._

_However, a series of misfortunes befell the village, coinciding with the stranger's visits. A disease afflicted some of the village's cattle, an early frost affecting the crops, the fishing in the area was not as good as usual for the season. Naturally, the villagers became even more suspicious._

_One day when the mayor's son went to go visit the stranger, one of his friends followed him into the forest and witnessed the two dancing and singing around a fire surrounded by an intricate design of brightly colored stones. _

_The friend of the mayor's son ran back to the village and spread the word of what he had seen. When the mayor's son returned home he was interrogated about the stranger and accused of succumbing to witchery. Fearing for his life the mayor's son stated he had been bewitched by the stranger, but that no harm was intended by the stranger upon him. Nevertheless, the villagers demanded he show them to the stranger's home._

_The stranger was brought before a tribunal, on a crime of witchcraft, not only for casting a spell on the mayor's son, but also for the misfortunes that had been befalling the town. The mayor's son pleaded with the stranger to admit to being a witch and then he could repent and his life would be spared._

_The stranger refused to admit he was guilty of anything. He never wished harm on the town or its people, and the dancing and singing with the mayor's son was only for pure joy, no magic whatsoever._

_The stranger's fate was already sealed and he was condemned for denying his crime. As assurance of the Mayor's son's repentance he was ordered to shave the head of the stranger before his execution._

_Though in his heart the mayor's son did not want to do the deed or to see his extraordinary friend destroyed, fear of the town's rebuke and fear that the stranger might in fact have some power over him, he cut off the beautiful rainbow locks he had once admired so much._

_The next day, the stranger was bound to a live oak tree with dry kindling at his feet. Suddenly the mayor's son ran forward to try and stop the burning, saying it was not right, that the stranger had never done him any harm and even saved his life. A smile appeared on the stranger's face, at that moment, the sunny sky was covered with a giant dark cloud and a bolt of lightning crashed into the tree, covering the tree and the onlookers in smoke._

"_When the smoke cleared, the kindling was untouched, and ropes were still tied around the tree, but the stranger was gone and never seen or heard from again."_

"_When the mayor's son visited the stranger's home, now ashes thanks to the villagers, he found in the wreckage a stone brightly colored with both his name and the stranger's name etched upon it..."_

"Over the years I've forgotten what the stranger's name was. I'll have to ask dad if he remembers. Though the name could be different depending on who tells the story. What do you think Hunter?" Jeff looked down at Triple H who was snoring softly, fast asleep.

Jeff smiled and studied Hunter for a moment. It was so rare to see The Game so calm and peaceful, almost vulnerable, resting comfortably, with his head against Jeff's arm. He wondered how many Triple H allowed to see him like this.

Jeff thought for a moment and then began to draw.

Two hours past and several drawings now lay around both Hunter and Jeff. The Rainbow haired warrior was so into his art he almost jumped when Hunter's cellphone rang. He gathered up his drawings as quickly as he could before grabbing the phone and giving Hunter a shake to wake him.

"Huh, What?" Hunter said groggily but immediately perked up when he saw Stephanie's name flashing on the phone. "Hello?! Steph?!"

"Hunter! It's not pertussis!" Stephanie burst out at hearing husband's voice. She sounded like she was laughing and crying at the same time.

"Really?! That's great!" Hunter said overjoyed although some dread still nagged at him. "So what was it? Is she going to be okay?"

"She's gonna be just fine! Bronchitis, topped off with a little lung infection made it sounded like whooping cough." She said while gently stroking the sleeping girl's hair. "But because of her age they're gonna keep her on the IV antibiotics for a little while longer then send us home with more stuff to clear it up."

Hunter breathed an audible sigh of relief. "Thank god. Do you want me to come over there, I'm booked for the first flight this morning."

"I'm sure-" Stephanie went silent for a moment when Aurora stirred and opened her eyes. "Oh sorry Honey-pie, did I wake you?"

"Aurora?" Hunter said automatically.

The little girl seemed to perk up at at hearing her father's voice over the phone. "Daddy...?"

"Here you wanna talk to Daddy?" Stephanie lowered the phone so it was resting against Aurora's ear.

"Daddy?" her voice was groggy.

"Hey baby. How are you doing?" Hunter's voice softened even more.

"I'm okay Daddy. Miss you..."

"I miss you too sweetie." Hunter said not even trying to hide the sadness in his voice. "I'm going to come and see you. So you get all better real fast, 'Kay?"

"Kay." Came his daughter's sleepy voice.

"You get some sleep. I love you sweetheart." Hunter said.

Aurora let out a sleepy yawn, "Love you, too, Daddy and I'll get better, promise!'

Hunter smiled and put on his best encouragement voice. "I know you will, I'll see you see you soon okay?"

"Okay... gotta go to sleep now Daddy. Love you..."

Stephanie took the phone back with a kiss to Aurora's head. "Go to sleep Honey-pie, the faster you do that the faster Daddy will be here." After Aurora settled down she spoke again. "Cuddlebear I hate to ask this but you said the first flight...?"

"Yes...?"

"Be on it... please."

"I will." Hunter said firmly. "The only way I would not be on it, is if you told me not to. And even then I'd still be on it." He said with a slight chuckle in his voice. "See you in a few hours. Remember to take care of yourself too"

"I will." She said unconsciously putting a hand over her pregnant belly. "I love you."

"I love you too Steph."

Hunter waited for Stephanie to hang up then put his cellphone away. He looked over Jeff by the door staring at him with that same mysterious smile he had seen that night when they talked about the stars. "What...?"

Jeff shook his head. "I was just thinkin' you're like two people. I've never heard you talk so tender to anyone, and I was just wondering how that side can co-exist with your ruthless asshole side.

"Heh." Hunter looked away, absently rubbing the back of his head, as he had no answer himself. "I don't know either." He said looking back at Jeff. "I guess that's the difference between Hunter and 'The Game'"

Jeff nodded thoughtfully and opened the door.

"Hey Jeff." Hunter called out to him, causing Jeff to halt his exit and look back. "Thanks... Thanks for keeping me company. I owe you one."

Jeff shook his head and smiled. "No you don't." And with that he left, leaving a slightly perplexed Hunter behind.

000

A few minutes after Jeff left Hunter was doing a final sweep around his hotel room to make sure to make sure he didn't leave anything behind. As he was checking the drawers of the night stand, he noticed a piece of paper had fallen down between the bed and the night stand. He was about to leave it for the maid staff to take care of when he noticed a swirl of bright colors along the edge of the paper.

He picked it up and turned it over to see a drawing. He recognized Jeff's distinctive style immediately. The picture seemed to be divided into two halves one colored with bright yellows, oranges, reds and pinks, the other with blacks blues and purples and a touch of green. The intricate lines and shades of both sides formed a single face. On the side with the bright colors the face seemed to be smiling happily, the eyes tender like a loving friend, while on the other side the harsh contrast of blue and black lines turned the smile into a wicked smirk and the eyes filled with a cruel glee.

However, what surprised Hunter most was despite the abstractness of Jeff's style, the distinctive features on the face were unmistakable. It was Hunter's own face in the picture.

It was a little startling seeing the two sides of himself, the loving father and dedicated friend, alongside the cruel and conniving Cerebral Assassin. How did this starchild understand him so well?

000

_Another chapter down. this one was rather tricky to write as it was very detailed and very important for coming chapters so I had to make sure everything I wanted to say and set up was in it. _

_The legend Jeff tells is based on a North Carolina folk tale I found about the Cora tree, though I modified the characters a bit to suit my story, I tried to keep it as intact as possible, I am sure you can guess which characters represent which._

_Don't worry chapter 13 is written and sent off to be beta'd._

_I found the "Cora Tree" fairytale here:_

www. nc beaches Features /History /TalesAndFolklore/


	13. Chapter 13

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Big Thank You to my beta reader Blazing Glory and my friend Writer Chica who make sure this story gets to you in readable fashion._

_000_

Jeff sat staring at his Red Bull, willing himself to swallow the gulp he had take in, knowing it would feel like knives going down. God he hated being sick. He had only picked at his food feeling hungry knowing he needed to eat something, but not really hungry. and not at the same time. He had woken up that morning feeling icky, but still hoped it would pass before the show that night. Instead his health kept deteriorating over the course of the day his throat growing more sore and irritated with every swallow.

He groaned a little when he saw a pair of familiar figures walking toward him. He really did not feel like talking to anyone. Particularly without Matt as a buffer. His older brother had been called into Vince's office, for a further discussion of his first match back since his appendicitis.

"Hey Jeff, how ya doin?" Hunter greeted him as he walked over, followed by Ric Flair who was at the event for promotional reasons.

"Been better." Jeff mumbled, distantly hoping they would take it as a cue to just keeping walking. No such luck, as Hunter and Ric took seats next to him.

"What's wrong?" Hunter asked, allowing some genuine concern to show on his face, but not too much in front of Ric.

"Sore throat. And a just generally feeling like crap."Jeff massaged his temples.

"Sounds like the flu or strep. Either way its' not good." Ric said. "I should know been through both myself, either way it feels like Hunter hit ya' five times with a sledgehammer."

Hunter smirked thoughtfully. "Could be. Open your mouth Jeff."

"What?" Jeff balked a little

"If your throat's bad enough we should have one of the docs look at it." Hunter said, in all seriousness. "Shane had strep throat a couple of weeks ago."

Jeff nodded and complied opening his mouth for Hunter to look. Luckily Hunter had a small flashlight on his keychain to get a better. Ric peered over Hunter's shoulder.

Meanwhile, unbeknownst to the three of them, Batista walked in to find the rather unusual sight of two of his fellow Evolution members looking down the throat of Jeff Hardy. With surprising quietness and the others so focused on what they were doing, Batista came up to look over Ric's shoulder without any of them noticing.

"Why are we looking into Jeff's mouth?" Batista asked

The sudden voice startled all three men especially Ric, whom Batista had been looming over. The Nature boy's react-first-ask-questions-later instinct from being attacked by rivals in the locker room too many times caused him to jump away from Batista into a defensive stance. However, as he did so he bumped into Hunter, throwing the already startled Game off balance, causing him to fall on the floor almost taking Jeff with him.

"How do you do that?!" Ric rasped to Batista trying to catch his breath. "You're too big of a guy to be that quiet when you walk!"

"Non squeak shoes?" Batista chuckled, helping Hunter up. "Seriously what's going on."

"Jeff might have strep throat." Hunter said dusting himself off.

"Oh." Batista took a step back away from Jeff. With an intense match with Shawn Michaels set at Backlash in a week, the last thing he wanted was to get sick.

"You're makin' a big deal over nothin'! I'll tough it out, I have before many, many times." Jeff said trying to keep his voice strong, but it was not possible with the pain and inflammation in his throat.

"It's not just about you toughing it look like you're going to pass out at any second, but and if it is strep you could infect half the roster before the night is over," Hunter said firmly.

"Now see he's right Jeff, it's not just your health on the line." Ric concurred.

Jeff let out a weary sigh but nodded and rested his head in his hand. "All right you win."

"Well, well what's this?" Came a voice from behind them.

The four men turned to see Randy Orton walking toward them. Hunter's eyes shifted back and forth between Randy and Jeff. While the Rainbow Haired Warrior's expression changed very little, but his hand slowly clenched in his hair and the weariness in his eyes disappeared behind a wall of ice. Ah, the healing power of hatred.

"The supershows before pay per-view always bring together the most interesting people." Randy smirked coming to stand next to Flair. "An Evolution reunion." Then frowned a little when his eyes fell on Jeff. "And of course the rabble."

Hunter automatically tensed, suddenly finding himself taking offense at the insults flying Jeff's way, similar to when someone spoke ill of Stephanie. Particularly if the insult was completely uncalled for. The other reason Triple H was tense was just in case Jeff took it into his head to get up and pounce on Randy, sickness or not.

Jeff got up all right, but not to attack Randy. He chose the course of the better man, or at least the more exhausted one, and just walked away without a word. Hunter was tempted to take off after him to make sure he got to the trainer's room okay, but to save face in front of the others he remained.

"So, uh Randy how ya' been?" Ric asked, breaking up the awkward silence that had fell upon them in the wake of Jeff's sudden departure.

"Just fine Ric." Randy said casting a glance at the WWE title over his shoulder. "So Hunter is the Pre-Event party before Backlash still on? And if I beat you at Backlash, I'm still invited to the Pre- Event party before Judgement Day right?"

"Course, to both questions." Hunter said automatically, Then a wicked smirk crossed his face as he thought of a jibe to hit Randy with in Jeff's place. "But what's all this "if" business ? Actually doubting you can beat me? That's not like you Randy."

Randy shrugged, confident, smug smile still on his face. "Perhaps finally winning the WWE championship has given me some humility."

"I never thought I would ever hear you say that word to talk about yourself, Randy." Batista chuckled.

"Anything is possible isn't it?" Randy shrugged again and winked at the group or specifically Hunter before walking off.

"Well what do you make of that?" Ric rubbed his chin thoughtfully watching Randy go.

"Either he's been hit too many times with a chair and turned over a new leaf, or he's up to something." Batista folded his arms over his chest and smirked. "Knowing Randy it's the latter, He's got something planning behind that smile. Glad I'm on Smackdown."

"That's for sure, I don't want to be on the receiving end of one of Randy's plots, when he sets his mind to it he can be just as clever and brutal as Hunter. Right H? " Ric looked over at his friend and fellow stable mate, but found he was gone.

"Well how about that, Randy is acting weird and Hunter makes himself MIA afterwards," Ric looked back at Batista.

"Now I'm really glad I'm on Smackdown," Batista muttered.

Ric and Batista remained silent for a long moment, before Ric finally spoke. "You sure you want to go through with this thing with Michaels. I appreciate the thought of avenging me, but Dave this is crazy. I knew what I was getting into when I fought him."

Batista frowned. "He should have laid down for you."  
"You know Shawn couldn't do that Dave," Ric cut him off. "That would be against everything him and I stood for in that match, and I wouldn't let him if he tried."

"He could have done something, a disqualification or something," Batista said looking down at his fists on the table.

"You know McMahon wouldn't have allowed it to end like that. It was all or nothing and it was a hell of an exit!" Ric said with a grin. "Come on Dave, don't make this unhappy for me, and come on you gotta see how hard this is for Hunter, trying to keep from choosing sides between two guys he views as brothers."

Batista looked back up at him eyes softening a little, but then looked away."You are the closest thing I've had to a father figure, without you I might not be where I am today. And now you're gone. I know you'll be in and out for promos and stuff, but it's not the same."

Ric Flair smiled genuinely touched by Batista's sentiment and reached out to pat his friend on the arm. "Thanks, Dave."

"There's no getting out now, the match is already set. And I've got to get this feeling out of me. Have things over with and settled between me and Shawn one way or another. You know what happens when you let things fester."

Ric frowned but nodded, reluctantly accepting Batista's point. "All right just be careful out there okay? Both you and Shawn."

Meanwhile, Hunter made his way down the hallway toward the trainer's room. He had used Ric and Batista's distraction watching Randy, to slip away in order to check and see if Jeff was all right and find out the verdict of his illness. Why he was making such effort over Jeff's health, going so far as sneaking away from his friends, he could not answer that question fully himself. He justified it as merely repaying Jeff for his above and beyond companionship the other night when his daughter was ill, even though the Rainbow Haired Warrior had said Triple H owed him nothing. Somehow just accepting Jeff's kindness without expected equal reciprocation sounded a little too much like friendship, like something Hunter and Shawn would do for each other. And Triple H was not sure he was ready to accept that he and Jeff were that close just yet

He put the mental debate to the back of his mind when he reached the trainers' room. He spotted Jeff at one end getting his throat swabbed by one of the physicians, Hunter was about to walk in when none other than Jeff's older brother Matt walked into view, offering his little brother some water when the physician was done swabbing.

"We'll send this swab off to the lab for confirmation of strep." The physician explained. "Unfortunately, all of your clinical symptoms are pointing to strep. Strep is highly contagious, with all the close contact in wrestling, it's a little too easy to pass on to the others. Not mention physical exertion in your weakened state could pose a risk to both you and your opponent in the ring. I am afraid, I am going to have to declare you unfit to wrestle."

"Thanks, Doc," Jeff said half sarcastic, half genuine. He was not happy at all at his predicament, but wanted to be congenial to the medical staff, which was always a good idea, for the work they did.

"Shit." Jeff buried his face in his hands. "I'm sorry Matt."

"Drink your water, quit stressing." Matt handed Jeff the cup of water and gave his head a gentle noogie. He put on the best face he could so he could look and sound more confident than he felt. "I'll handle Thing One and Thing Two just fine."

"It's your first night back man..." Jeff shook his head looking unconvinced.

"All the better, little brother!" Matt put an arm around Jeff's shoulder. "Just think how sweet it'll be when I beat 'em first night back!"

Jeff still looked uncertain. "Yeah...But... what if... I should be there to watch your back man,"

Despite the good face he put on Matt could feel a knot in his belly, wishing desperately his brother would be with him in the ring, but he could not show it because it was his job to protect Jeff from worrying about this kinda crap. "It is what it is little brother. Don't worry yourself, they're not gonna get the best of me!"

"Let me put it to you this way Jeff," Matt continued switching tactics. "How well do you think I am going to be able to concentrate out there when I am worried about you wandering around sick backstage, passing out and cracking your stupid little skull on the concrete."

Jeff mulled over the logic a bit and nodded. It was true in his state he might be more of a liability than a help to Matt if anything happened.

"Fuck you and your logic." He grumbled then managed a weak smile.

Matt narrowed eyes in a playful glare and his voice turned a little growly. "Somebody here's asking for a Nuclear Noogie. And don't think a little strep is gonna save you!"

Jeff folded his arms across his chest in mock challenge. "Careful, you might get infected by my, what did the doc call it, my respiratory droplets of doom."

"Mmmm, good there's only so much sick leave I can take..." He gave Jeff a good natured elbow. "Go get some rest, and don't stress yourself into something worse than strep, got it?"

Jeff smiled and nodded. "Better get ready you only got an hour to warm up."

"Yeah yeah." Matt said hopping of the exam table and making for the door.

No sooner had he stepped outside then his eyes fell on Hunter near the door. Despite the temperature control in the stadium working just fine, when the two men made eye contact the temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees, the cold in particular coming off Matt.

"He's not feeling well, let him rest." Matt said cooly, though not harshly.

"I know I sent him over here in the first place." Hunter answered back, his voice defensive but calm.

Matt shrugged as if to say 'whatever' but did his best to keep it borderline civil. Although he just could not resist making a small jab that had been bugging him " And you didn't go with him to make sure he was alright?"

"Randy, Batista and Ric were right there, I couldn't get away." Hunter protested, but had the air that the statement was an obvious thing Matt should have picked up."

Matt's gaze hardened and his jaw twitched slightly, not liking his brother being treated like a dirty secret, but he managed to keep his cool.

"I have to protect his identity you know." Hunter continued growing a little more defensive at the older Hardy's increasingly harsh gaze. "I got away as soon as I could. I'm here now."

"If you wanna see him, see him." Matt said firmly. "Just don't tire him out and make it worse, or I'll open a can of big-brother whoopass on ya."

Hunter snorted, frown deepening. "Tch. I'd like to see you try. You ain't Austin no matter how much of a wanna be you are."

The two men glared icely at each other until Jeff came out of the trainers room. He balked at the sight of his brother and his lover nose to nose, both of them looking as if they might throw a punch at any moment.

"What's goin' on?" Jeff snapped startling the other two, who had not even noticed him come out.

Matt looked over at Jeff and let out a breath before glaring back at Hunter. "Nothing." He said coolly before walking away to find the locker room he had left his stuff in.

"Nothing at all," Hunter grumbled, walking away as well in the opposite direction to rejoin Ric.

Both of them leaving a rather bewildered Jeff standing in the hallway

000

Jeff was trying to sleep though it was a little difficult when one was swallowing knives with every gulp, and your head aching on top of it. He groaned when a loud knock came at the door, he was tempted to ignore it, but in favor of having the knocking over with quick, he got up and staggered groggily over to the door. "Ken! If you forgot your key again I'm kickin' your ass."

However, when Jeff opened the door he found not Ken, but Triple H standing there, a cheshire cat grin on his face. "Go for it Hardy. See where this hot stuff leads."

Jeff rolled his eyes, but smirked back. "Oh man, what are you doin' here? I've been quarantined remember?"

"Oh good, I was hoping this chicken noodle soup and herbal tea wouldn't go to waste." Hunter said grin still on his face.

Jeff blinked looking genuinely surprised. Hunter bringing him goodies to help him feeling better That he had not expected. "You... you brought that for me?"

Hunter held up the soup right under Jeff's nose, where the delicious scent of chicken noodle can filter through: "Yep."

Jeff blinked a few more times still trying process that Hunter is being this nice with no inducement. "Why?"

Hunter shook his head mock tragic voice. "Oh to be so young, and yet so jaded..."

" Been through a lot," Jeff said offhandedly, not entirely joking, then the smirk returned to his face. "But even the most naive would be wary of you."

Hunter's smirk deepened, enjoying the banter immensely. One of the things that kept him ever interested in Jeff. "If I wasn't so proud of that, I might take offense."

Jeff smiled, but a wave of weariness washed over him. "Sorry man, I can't think of a good comeback right now."

Hunter turned serious as Jeff's whole body seemed to slump. "I figured you weren't gonna be in the mood to order up cafeteria crap, and Steph really likes this tea whenever her throat's on fire so..."

Jeff smiled and he took the soup and the tea. "No sense looking a gift King of Kings in the mouth."

Hunter nodded. "Damn straight. And if you don't like it I've got two words for you.

"I don't think so." Jeff waved his finger teasingly. "That's against rule number 2."

Hunter chuckled. "Leave it to you to think up the only genuinely good comeback to that."

Jeff walked back into his room from the doorway and turned back to look at Hunter over his shoulder, a rather inviting smile on his face. "You coming in or heading back?"

"Well I don't have a match tonight, but I gotta go in a little bit to promote Backlash, but I can spare a few minutes." Hunter grinned and followed him in.

"If you got a minute to spare I'll take it." Jeff grinned back before taking a seat on one of the beds. He carefully sipped the tea and cringed a little at the taste, but it did feel good going down. "Oh man what's in this stuff?"

Hunter scratched his head trying to remember. "It's a blend of chamomille, tea leaves, a slice of lemon... some herb stuff. I just remembered the blend Steph gets and got some..."

Jeff took another sip and sighed wearily. "This sucks, Matt's first match back, and I'm not there."

Hunter sighed too. "Yeah, I remember when Steph came back after Aurora was born..."

Jeff combed his fingers through his hair. "I'm just worried somethin' bad is going to

happen." Then he froze an idea popping into his head, However uncertainty filled him as he looked over at Hunter. "Hey Hunter, I wanna cash in a favor."

Hunter tensed a little and looked over at Jeff warily. "Sure..."

"I'm worried Orton or MVP are going to take it into their heads to try to put Matt back out of action. And I'm not there to back him up if something goes down." He closed his eyes and chewed on the nail of his thumb for a moment before letting out a breath, not looking at Hunter. "It would be a great load off my mind if you had Matt's back in case they try any ambushes."

Hunter looked at Jeff as if he had two heads, a deep frown on his face. "You're serious?" He grabbed a fist full of blue and purple hair and gave a sharp tug, forcing Jeff to look at him.. "That's a hell of a favor considering your brother's feelings about our little arrangement..."

"He's still my older brother, Hunter. I have to look out for him like he looks out for me." Jeff looked at Hunter his eyes wide almost pleading. A rare sight on the usually defiant Hardy's face. It was something Hunter had been wanting to see out of the Rainbow Haired Warrior, but now that it was here he was not sure he wanted to see it on Jeff's face after all

Needless to say it startled Hunter a little. Perhaps it was the sickness, allowing Jeff to show that vulnerability in front of Triple H. But that sad and worried look on the Rainbow Haired Warrior's strong face, gave a strong tug at Hunter's heartstrings, at least the ones that still existed, and he could not help but soften a little. How could he say no?

Hunter sighed a let go of Jeff's hair. "Alright, alright. I'll do what I can."

For a moment Jeff outright beamed at him, looking so grateful and relieved, it made Hunter's doubts about granting Jeff this favor and helping Matt in spite of possibly putting his Cerebral Assassin reputation into question, begin to fade away.

Suddenly he felt Jeff's arms around his neck and they were practically nose to nose. Hunter noticed yet again something different in Jeff's grateful eyes, something he had not seen before. A sort of disbelieving joy. Hunter suddenly found himself falling into those emerald eyes again. There was something fragile there too, wavering as if afraid to show it, but wanting to at the same time. Something wanting to be protected

"_Thank you."_

Hunter suddenly became aware of Jeff pulling away from him. The younger Hardy let out a whoosh of breath as if he had been holding it and sucked in as much as he could.

"I didn't breath on you I promise." Jeff said with a raspy chuckle, and then a wince as chuckling seemed to make his throat hurt even more now. "I held my breath."

"Oh." Hunter said still sort of collecting his thoughts at what he had just seen, then a thought a occurred to him, if Jeff was holding his breath that whole time how had he said "Thank you." Had Hunter just imagined it?

"Thanks again, sorry to put your asshole reputation in jeopardy," Jeff smirked again.

Hunter passed off with a wave of his hand. "Eh I'll just kick a few puppies afterwards. It'll be fine."

Jeff chuckled again despite the pain. "Or kick a few certain people in the head."

Hunter could not help, but snigger at that and patted Jeff on the back. "I'll see if I can't arrange something."

"I think they should give you another title "The World Arrangement Champion"," Jeff gave him a gentle punch on the arm.

Hunter chuckled, and got up. "I'd better get back."

Jeff nodded surprised that he was already missing Hunter's presence. Or perhaps he just did not want to be alone. As Hunter left, he spoke softly. "Hunter... Thanks for... checking on me"

Just as he was about to step out the door, he turned around and for just a second a real, genuine, kind smile flashed across Hunter's face, before he turned and left.

0000

Jeff sat on the edge of his bed watching intently as the final two opponents from the battle royal grappled together. The Belfast Brawler, Finlay and his brother Matt. What made Jeff even more nervous was MVP was sitting ringside as a guest commentator for the match and commenting on who he might be facing at Backlash. It was a little too close for Jeff's liking.

The moment of victory happened when Finlay tried to dump Matt over the top rope, but Matt as he was falling used his weight to pull Finlay over as well. Matt managed to hang on to the ropes and the ring apron to keep his feet off the floor, while Finlay fell to the floor.

Matt pulled himself back into the ring to have his hand raised by the referee and it officially announced that he was the winner and would face MVP at Backlash. Much to MVP's displeasure.

The Ballin' superstar angrily approached the ring although he did not enter it. The attack Jeff had been dreading came not from MVP, but from behind Matt's turned back. Finlay though defeated in the battle royal was by no means down and out, and was looking for a little payback against the man who had taken away his championship shot right from under his nose.

"Shit! Matt behind you!" Jeff yelled at the TV when he saw the Irishman pick up his shileighley and slide back into the ring unbeknownst to Matt.

The younger Hardy cringed and covered his eyes as Finlay struck Matt in the back of his leg with the club, right on the knee that had left Matt out for several months back in 2004.

Jeff peeked through his fingers to watch helplessly as MVP, looking to take out his Backlash opponent early, climbed into the ring to help Finlay continue the beatdown of Matt Hardy.

_Hunter... Hunter where are you? You promised!_ Jeff thought, both worry and anger beginning to fill him.

Unable to bear watching his older brother take another hit, Jeff decided to rush down to the stadium sick or not and help Matt. Even though he knew in his head by the time he got down there the damage would already be done, but his heart kept pounding "DO! SOMETHING! NOW!"

However just as he placed his hand on the doorknob when he heard the D-generation X theme hit. Jeff let out a weary breath of relief and rested his head against the door for moment, listening to the welcome sounds of the familiar music and J.R. and Jerry Lawler's shocked commentary at seeing Triple H appear.

Jeff turned wearily back to the TV, sure enough there was Hunter sporting his DX shirt striding towards the ring sledgehammer in hand. He meant business and the crowd was cheering him on.

Triple H entered the ring. Finlay turned around only to take a sledgehammer to the face. MVP tried to beat a hasty retreat, but was not quick enough as the Cerebral Assassin caught him and pulled him back to deliver a satisfying spinebuster.

By this time Matt Hardy had regained some of his senses after the beatdown and stared at the fallen Finlay and the recovering MVP. His gaze shifted warily to Hunter. The King of Kings glared down at him icily, but Matt glared back at him defiantly, as he used the ropes and turnbuckle to help him stand. Though he knew if Hunter meant to come after him as well, with his body banged up and his head still spinning a bit from the beatdown there was little chance he would get out of the way of the Game's rampage.

However, to Matt's fortune Hunter turned his attention back to MVP when the U.S. champion got to his feet. Unfortunately, the dazed superstar walked right into Hunter's trap and found himself pedigreed right into the floor.

With both MVP and Finlay down for the count Triple H roared and the crowd, though a bit confused at what had just transpired - particularly with Shawn Michaels being conspicuously absent- cheered him on, many crossing their arms above their heads or doing the "crotch chop".

Hunter then grabbed the nearest microphone. "You see that Randy?" He called out pointing to MVP's prone form. "That's going to be you at Backlash!"

With that Hunter threw down the mic and stormed out of the ring, seemingly to the crowd and everyone else around he had forgotten about Matt all together. RAW faded out to a commercial, leaving a decimated Finlay and MVP, one very confused Matt Hardy and a delighted audience.

Meanwhile back at the hotel a satisfied smirk pulled across Jeff's face. Quite clever of Hunter to use the DX moniker for this. Either alone or together with Shawn Michaels DX had the calling card of causing mischief and mayhem no matter what the circumstance, and considering DX had a previous rivalry with Rated-RKO the team of Randy and Edge, it was the perfect cover for granting Jeff's favor of protecting Matt. Although no doubt if Shawn Michaels were watching he would be horribly confused.

However, unbeknownst to the audience, Randy Orton had already left the building. Having finished his match and promotional stuff earlier in the night , "The Legend Killer", was with his former partner in crime Edge in Randy's hotel room relaxing. Randy was watching the remainder of the show on the television.

"What the hell is he doing?" Randy muttered, glaring half angry, half surprised at the TV.

"What?" Edge looked up from texting on his phone.

"He's calling me out in the ring after decking MVP, even though he knows I've already left." Randy answered narrowing his eyes menacingly at the screen.

"What?" Edge repeated looking at the screen even more perplexed.

"What is he up to?" Randy growled.

"What do you mean?" Edge quirked an eyebrow at him. "Isn't he always up to something?"

"Why would he go through the effort of attacking Finley and MVP to call me out when I'm not even there?" Randy snapped.

"Hmm." Edge murmured thoughtfully.

"And running out to save Matt Hardy no less," Randy's glare at the TV intensified. "So he's with the Hardys huh?"

Edge looked back up at the screen warily. The camera was on Matt and judging by the shocked look on his face, Matt most likely knew nothing of this, it was confirmed even more so when Matt glared back at Hunter. But what about Jeff?

Even though he was on Smackdown, Edge could tell Jeff and Hunter had been awfully chummy since Survivor Series and surprisingly even more so since Jeff beat Triple H at Armageddon. For Hunter to be friendly with someone who had beaten him, there had to be something else going on between them.

Or perhaps between the sheets, Edge mused. He'd heard rumors of Hunter's business affairs and knew more detail than he wanted to about Randy's love affair with The Game. Though Hunter had never approached Edge, he guessed it was because he had been married and then dating Lita. He'd heard from Randy that Hunter tended to avoid the complication of "taken" people

It seemed far fetched that Hunter would be interested in Jeff, but it was not out of the realm of possibility. When you were not put off immediately by Jeff's weirdness, he had his own unique allure about him, a mystery you wanted to solve that drew you to him time and time again. That, his sense of humor, and the air of calm usually about him didn't hurt at all.

Being the Ultimate Opportunist, Edge always kept his eyes and ears open to gossip and intrigue and scandal that went on between people backstage. Something juicy could be the perfect foil for him to get ahead or win a match.

However, if the current situation with Jeff and Triple H was what he thought it might be, then he would have to turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to it. If it were Matt and Hunter he couldn't care less. In fact with the animosity between himself and Matt and Hunter with DX, having something plummy in his pocket would be helpful. But alas it was Jeff involved in some way... And well... He had his own personal reasons for protecting the Rainbow Haired Warrior. Even though he had done some cruel things to people and even smiled about it, somehow pushing someone over the edge after having pulled them back from it a few years back was not something he wanted on what little conscience he had left.

"It could be just a coincidence," Edge said suddenly, startling Randy a little. "It was probably MVP he was after, since he is a champion even though its a midcard belt. Notice he didn't come out when Finley hit Matt and beat up on him in the first place," The R-rated superstar said simply, casually popping a chip in his mouth. "It was only after MVP got involved that he showed himself. Probably knew you would be watching, and just didn't want to get into an actual fight with you before Backlash."

Edge studied Randy hoping his comrade would take his words to heart and follow that lead instead of the Hardy one. Unfortunately Randy's face had become stoney and unreadable.

"Maybe." Randy said quietly. He steepled his fingers under his nose, his stony expression unchanged, but his eyes narrowed even more menacingly. He looked very much like the Viper people named him for.

000

"What the hell was that?" Shawn Michaels caught up to Hunter after the show. "Why didn't you tell me we were going DX tonight?!"

"Kind of an impromptu thing, and I thought you hand your hands full enough with Batista, he's not going to let go of the fact you retired Ric, until he gets satisfaction in the ring. Even Ric tried to talk to him, but it did no good. Plus you and me teaming up looks like I'm taking your side against him. I can't do that. I can't get involved in anyway, or it'll become even more gruesome." Hunter looked genuinely regretful.

"I know, I know..." Shawn shook his head. Then after a pause looked back at Hunter with a raised eyebrow. "Nice try Hunter, that still doesn't explain why you were out there."

Hunter's jaw clenched, he thought for sure he was going to get out of that by changing tangents. Shawn knew him too well.

"I wanted to send a message to Randy by taking out another champion," Hunter said with a shrug trying to pass it off casually.

Shawn's eyebrows shot up even higher. "Even though he wasn't even in the stadium?"

_Damn it he knew..._ Hunter growled to himself, but tried to keep things nonchalant on the outside, though it was quickly becoming clear Shawn was chipping away at the facade. "Well I figured he'd still be watching on TV in his hotel room or something."

"You went through all that trouble to take on Finley and MVP as one half of DX on only the possibility that Randy might see it." Shawn looked utterly perplexed. "Where's my cool, calculating asshole of a friend?"

"I'm just full of surprises." Hunter flashed him a grin and turned around to leave hoping Shawn in his confusion would let him go and not probe further.

Shawn mulled over the match trying to put the pieces together. Something just didn't add up, why would Hunter risk injury, just before a main event title match with Randy Orton when he didn't have to? What was the missing piece...? Hunter had no quarrel with Finley, MVP was just a pawn to send a message to Randy who wasn't even there, Hunter had no reason to go out and save Matt Hardy...

_Wait a minute, he went after both MVP and Finley, but left the easy target of wounded Matt alone? Wouldn't attacking Matt too made an even bigger statement to Randy? _

"Hey!" Shawn called out, before running after Hunter. When he finally caught up to his friend, he whispered rather harshly in his ear. "Are you having an affair with Matt hardy?"

Hunter froze at first thinking Shawn had said Jeff, but when his brain recalled it was actually the older brother's name said he relaxed a little. Still the guess hit a little too close. "What?! Are you crazy? Me and Matt Hardy please, Shawn-"

"Look at me in the eye and tell me you're not seeing Matt Hardy. I wanna see if you start twitching on me." Shawn said firmly, like a father to a son who was trying to cover up something he had done wrong.

Hunter groaned, it was true he could never lie directly to Shawn's face without unconsciously giving some physical hint of his deception. However at the same time, he saw there might be a way out of this while still keeping Shawn in the dark about his fling with Jeff.

Since Jeff's spiral out of control and subsequent return Shawn had become a little protective of the Rainbow Haired Warrior. Apparently he saw some of himself in Jeff, years ago when he too had lost control of his life and came back. He did not want to see it happen to Jeff again.

However, Hunter looked Shawn straight in the eye and only told him the truth. " I am not having an affair with Matt Hardy."

Shawn studied him carefully looking for any signs of deception. He found none. The Show Stopper let out a sigh and turned to leave.

Hunter himself let out a breath that he had been holding. He turned around a small grin on his face to walk back to his room when behind him Shawn came to sudden halt and turned around.

"It's Jeff isn't it?!" Shawn said running up and whispering in Hunter's ear like before, still maintaining discretion in the hallway if only for Jeff's sake.

Hunter froze again, but this time the magic word of "Jeff" had passed Shawn's lips for real. Hunter kept his back to Shawn and tried again to pass it off as if it were a crazy idea. "The rainbow nutball? Come on he's-"

"Turn around and answer my question!" Shawn demanded.

Hunter was tempted to just bolt, but that would only confirm Shawn's suspicions. Maybe just maybe he could pass Shawn's twitch test if he just focused. Steeling himself he turned around to face Shawn.

"Are you having an affair with Jeff Hardy?" Shawn said firmly, making sure to add the last name, so there was no confusion about which Jeff he was referring to.

Hunter opened his mouth to say "no", but he could already feel his body trembling, a twitch coming on and about to show itself at any moment.

"Yes." Hunter admitted.

Shawn closed his eyes and let out a breath, clearly wishing that Hunter had not just confirmed his suspicions.

"Is this for some "plan" that you've got cooked up, because if it is-"

"No!" Hunter cut him off. "It's not like that." He assured Shawn, but left it at that as he was uncertain himself of where exactly his feelings lay. After the night Jeff had stayed with him while his daughter was sick, and suddenly feeling automatic worry when Jeff himself had fallen ill and even brought him soup and tea which he had never done before for any of his lovers, it was getting near impossible to call his liaison with Jeff "simply business".

"Then what is it?" Shawn looked at him seriously.

Not wanting to get into discussing his relationship with Jeff fully until he figured it out himself, he compared it to the closest thing he could think of to put Shawn's mind at ease. "Kinda like that thing I had with Cena a few years back. And that came out all right didn't it?"

After a silent moment, too Hunter's relief Shawn nodded. "All right just make sure it stays that way okay?" Shawn smiled at him and patted him on the shoulder. Then Shawn quirked an eyebrow at him seeming to realize all over again that Hunter was having a fling with Jeff. "You and Jeff?"

Hunter shrugged and grinned. "I'm mystified myself."

0000

_Hunter and Shawn are fun to write..._


	14. Chapter 14

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Big Thank You to my beta reader Blazing Glory and my friend Writer Chica who make sure this story gets to you in readable fashion._

0000

The Smackdown show was filled with excitement, it was the last show before Backlash. The Hardys were getting ready for their match together, they were in tag-team action against John Morrison and Finlay.

Matt Hardy looked up from strapping on his wrestling boots when the door to the locker room opened and Jeff came in followed by Hunter.

About an hour ago Hunter had come by to "talk" to Jeff in private, judging by how tense Hunter was beforehand and how relaxed he was when he walked Jeff back to the locker room afterwards, Matt had a pretty good guess at what had transpired between them. He tried to keep himself from glaring at Hunter as The Game stood in the doorway talking to Jeff. As much as he promised to be nice, he just didn't trust Hunter and he certainly did not like the idea of him fucking his little brother.

Still he kept silent and pretended to be more interested in his boot as he listened to the exchange between Hunter and Jeff.

"Oh, before I forget," Hunter said reaching into his bag and delicately pulled out a piece of paper from his business folder. "You left this behind the other night in my room."

Jeff's eyes widened considerably as he saw one of his drawings in Hunter's hand, more importantly it was a drawing he had created of Hunter himself. Despite making every effort to be nonchalant, his cheeks turned a little red, he had not meant for Hunter to see this. "Uh, thanks man, I was looking for that."

Jeff took the drawing back and absently rubbed the back of his head as he looked down at the floor. "Sorry I didn't mean for you to see that it was kind of an idea that popped into my head."

Matt balked a little at this, his brother acting like a shy school girl and spending creative neurons on Hunter. When did this develop? When did Jeff start caring about Hunter enough to draw him?

Jeff had not even drawn Candice when they had their little liaison. Well he did, but she had asked him to, so she could have a memento from him, but judging by Jeff's reaction to Hunter finding the drawing this not the case.

"Its alright," Hunter chuckled. "Not the first time I have been artistically rendered. It's good stuff your style is definitely you."

Jeff looked back up at him, a little surprised. "You like it?"

"Yeah, for once someone actually depicted Hunter instead of just 'The Game'." Hunter grinned and winked at him, before turning to leave. "Nice change of pace."

"Hey wait," Jeff said as Hunter took a step to leave. When the other man turned back around with a raised eyebrow, he held out the drawing. "Here you can have it if you like it."

"Really? Thanks." Hunter smiled taking the drawing.

"I figure since it got left with you it must be meant to be." Jeff grinned. "Good luck with JBL tonight. Don't let him cheat you out of your title shot."

"Thanks, but I think I got my good luck charm right here." Hunter smirked holding up the picture.

Jeff's smile broadened.

Matt had turned watching the last part of the exchange with interest. He had to admit he had not expected Hunter to actually keep the drawing, Jeff's style though interesting and unique could be a little bizarre to snobby eyes, which Matt expected the former "Connecticut Blueblood" to have. However, not only did he not throw it away when he found it, but Hunter had made an effort to return it and accepted it when Jeff offered it to him.

Maybe Matt had misjudged Hunter after all. Well, just a little bit...

000

"Well folks it's been an exciting night, capped off with Triple H really taking it to JBL." Michael Cole announced to the WWE Universe watching at home.

"Heh. Yeah, JBL going to regret begging for that No disqualification No. 1 contender rematch." Tazz chuckled.

"Yes, indeed I think he's going to regret it even more when Triple H hits that Pedigree, couldn't happen to a nicer guy."

"For once you and me agree on something Michael. The King of Kings wants his gold back, and he looks ready to take it to Randy Orton at Backlash. "

"That's for sure Tazz, and what's more-Triple H hits the Pedigree and goes for the cover. 1! 2! Wait a minute! What's MVP doing here?!"

"He just pulled the referee out of the ring before the three count!" Tazz exclaimed. "This is a no disqualification match, it's all legal!"

"That's right," Cole said. "Looks like MVP is looking to get some revenge for Monday night when Triple H attacked him and Finlay to make a statement to Orton."

Hunter looked around confused still slightly dazed from the boot to the face JBL had given him. Where was the damn third count? More importantly where was the referee? He got to his feet and turned around to find a chair in his face.

"Oh! And MVP decks The Game with a chair!" Cole exclaimed. "And it's all legal. And now JBL is getting to his feet. MVP brought an extra in with him. Now both are armed with chairs."

"This is not looking good for the King of Kings! MVP and JBL might might go for the conchairto there!" Tazz shouted.

"No kidding, they took some tips from Rated-RKO it looks like!"

Both announcers cringed as MVP and JBL timed their strikes, MVP hitting Hunter in the back and JBL hitting his abdomen at the same. Triple H fell to the mat, the wind clearly knocked out of him on top of the pain from the synchronised chair shots.

"Oh talk about being between a rock and hard place, Michael!" Tazz winced again as Triple H fell. "This is turning into a good old fashioned beatdown."

"And with this being a no disqualification match, this won't end until JBL makes the pinfall." Michael . "But JBL doesn't look like he has any intention of stopping, he probably wants to make sure Triple H doesn't make it to Backlash! And what's more- Wait a minute! It's the Hardys! Matt and Jeff! What are they doing here?!"

"Boy Matt Hardy making a bee line for MVP! Can't blame him though after Monday!"

"That's right Tazz, MVP helped Finlay beatdown his Backlash opponent Matt Hardy after the Battle Royal!"

"Looks like Backlash is getting started a little early Michael!" Tazz grinned.

Matt made an attempt to perform a Twist of Fate on MVP, but the Ballin' superstar managed to wriggle his way out, and slid outside the ring. He jumped over the guard wall and dashed up the exit lane with Matt in hot pursuit.

Meanwhile, Jeff stopped at the ropes. Matt could handle it from here. He'd come out to support Matt in getting back at MVP and even the odds for Hunter's sake. Suddenly he heard several "Look out, Jeff" from the audience. He turned around and put up his arms just in time to catch a chair shot shot aimed for his face by JBL.

Jeff wrestled the chair away from JBL and threw it back at him. While Jeff had no direct quarrel with JBL, he did not take kindly to someone trying to nail him in the face with a chair. He grabbed JBL and performed a Twist of Fate on him. He raised up his hands and formed the Hardy GunZ much to the enjoyment of the crowd that was already riled up by both the interference and the save.

He looked back at Hunter who had by now recovered enough to stand, and winked at him. Triple H smirked back and pulled JBL to his feet, delivering a swift pedigree to the corporation leader. Being a no disqualification match, despite all of the interferences the match was still on. This time when Hunter went for the pin, there was no one to stop him.

After a few breaths Hunter got up and turned to Jeff small smile on his face. They shook hands and Hunter pulled him into a one armed hug, whispering "thanks" before letting go. The two went to opposite turnbuckles to pose for the crowd who were going absolutely nuts, while a conscious but dazed, JBL was helped out of the ring and up the ramp.

Jeff hopped off the turnbuckle. He loved these moments when the crowd was electric, he'd come off a tag team victory with his brother, and he wasn't in horrible pain from his match so he could actually enjoy it. Hunter's theme music was blaring and with the adrenaline still running through his veins and the energy in the arena he began moving his body in time to the music.

He pointed at the crowd and their cheers rose up. He looked over at Hunter who grinned and put his hand up to his ear toward the crowd on his side of the ring, who cheered back. Jeff laughed and pointed at the crowd on his side again whose cheers rose louder. Hunter laughed and pointed as his crowd again who cheered louder. They went back and forth a few times, the crowd going along with them. Then Hunter motioned for Jeff to join him in the middle of the ring.

"Wanna do something fun?" Hunter grinned not bothering to lower his voice as the noise from the music and crowd cheering was deafening. "We'll point at one end of the crowd, then swing around to the other end. Vocal version of the wave."

Jeff smiled back and laughed. He really liked this side of Hunter and was happy to see it come out more often, and in front of the audience no less without the cover of DX.

"Love it. Let's do it."

Hunter raised his hands and lowered them to get the crowd to quiet down a little so the trick would have more effect. Then he and Jeff pointed at one end of the crowd and swung around to the otherside. Sure enough the voices rose, following their movements. A vocal wave.

Meanwhile, Matt came back into the arena area through the crowd, having lost track of MVP backstage. He stood there just outside the ring in amused disbelief at Triple H goofing around with Jeff and the crowd in the ring. Another thing he had not expected from the stuck up King of Kings. Then again, Hunter did break out of the confinement of the reputation he had made for himself when it came to the antics with DX. But Triple H was not in DX mode now. Matt had to admit it just gotten a little bit harder to outright dislike "The Game".

Matt snapped out of his reverie when he noticed his brother waving him into the ring. The elder Hardy climbed in, he grinned and threw his arms back around to point to the crowd behind him, who cheered loudly. When the music ended the three men burst out laughing.

As an extra show of goodwill Jeff did a DX crotch chop and Matt followed suit. Hunter chuckled and then tried his hand at imitating the Hardy's hand symbols, the "Gunz" and "V.1". He got Jeff's symbol all right, but Matt's "V.1" was a little off. Either by accident or maybe intentional to make the crowd laugh, Hunter had his thumb over his middle finger instead of his ring finger.

Jeff glanced over at his brother wondering if Matt would take further offense at Hunter botching his signature symbol. But the elder Hardy only laughed and went over to Hunter and adjusted his fingers into the proper position.

Jeff sighed a little in relief, maybe just maybe, there was hope his brother and Hunter might get along better.

000

_Sorry about the chapter shortness this one is actually broken off another chapter that is much longer, the two together just did not flow right, so I decided to break them up._

_The antics Jeff and Hunter did to work the crowd are actually based on reality. I found a video a fan recorded on youtube of Jeff and Triple H working the crowd after their match, by pointing at them and getting them to cheer on cue to see who's side could cheer the loudest. It was just adorable and I was so glad to find actual footage of Jeff/Hunter goofing around with each other in the ring in at a real WWE event._


	15. Chapter 15

_Disclaimer: All WWE content is owned by Vincent Kennedy McMahon and any use here is purely for entertainment value only. No copyright infringement is intended._

_Big Thank You to my beta reader Blazing Glory and my friend Writer Chica who make sure this story gets to you in readable fashion._

000

The night before the Backlash event saw the Hardys going out for an early dinner and maybe a drink or two. They were walking down the hallway, Jeff was listening to his music, zoning out as Matt remained quiet walking beside him. Suddenly Matt stopped, looking down at the floor.

Jeff walked a few more paces, before noticing the absence of his brother beside him. He stopped and looked back at Matt. "What's up man?"

"Um, there's something I've been putting off taking care of for a while." Matt answered vaguely looking up but not directly in his brother's eye. "I'll meet you at the restaurant in a little bit."

"Okay..." Was all a confused Jeff could say as Matt turned and took off in the other direction without saying another word.

Hunter was catching a cat nap so he wouldn't be quite so tired at the Pre-Backlash party, and maybe stay awake the whole time. He grumbled a little when he heard a rather loud knock at his door. Of all the people he expected to be at his door it certainly was not Matt Hardy. "Well, well Matt, if you're looking for MVP, he isn't here."

Matt shifted uncomfortably, clearly not happy about being here, but forcing himself anyway, plunged forward. "Hey."

"Hey yourself." Hunter raised a curious eyebrow at him, and tried to keep from snickering at the usually steadfast Hardy's discomfort. "Where's Jeff? I rarely see you guys without the other nearby when the two brands are together?"

"We're meeting up for dinner, but I wanted to take care of somethin' really quick..." Matt said though he turned his head and looked away from Hunter.

"And this involves me how...?" Hunter prompted casually though kept his body tense, in case that something was a punch to the face instead of words. Despite Matt's friendliness in the ring on Smackdown, he might have just been putting on a good face for Jeff and the crowd. Even now it was quite obvious that Matt did not want to be in Hunter's presence at all.

After an awkward pause Matt looked back at Hunter in the eye and swallowed every ounce of pride he had. "Thanks for what you did, saving my ass on RAW after the battle royal. I know that got you in trouble with MVP tonight so I just wanted to let you know that I did appreciate it, even if I didn't say so before.

Hunter blinked a couple of times speechless for the moment. Of all the things he was expecting Matt to say to him that was not one of them. "Uh, you're welcome..." He replied automatically, still trying to process what had just been said, but quickly collected his senses and resumed his Game posture. He leaned against the door frame arms folded across his chest a slightly smug smirk on his face. "Though really it's Jeff you should thank, he asked me to watch your back in his place.

Now it was Matt's turn to be surprised. "Jeff?"

"Yeah, Jeff. You yourself haven't given me any reason to save your ass, in fact you've been a downright cold shouldering dick to me lately, so I wouldn't have lifted finger to help even if Finlay and MVP had beaten you into the ground..." Hunter said indignantly, but then softened a little. "But... Jeff has kept up his end of our affair, so when he asked for that favor to help you if you needed it, even though I wasn't so particularly inclined, I came down to the ring and saved your ass."

Matt looked away again seeming to think about this new revelation, both that Jeff had been behind the save the whole time, and the fact that Hunter had honored the request even though it had earned him the ire of MVP who almost cost him the No. 1 contendership on Smackdown.

Chewing on his lower lip for a moment before he sighed, muttering affectionately about Jeff. "Little twerp..."

He finally turned to face Hunter again. "You wanna... join us for dinner? The place's a block away.."

Hunter raised an eyebrow at him again. "You're inviting me?"

"Guess I am..." Matt shrugged.

Hunter thought about it for awhile, he had the party to attend later, on the other hand he did not want to refuse Matt's good will, when the elder Hardy was finally warming up to him. "Well I do have a dinner date later," He flashed Matt a genuine smile. "But I could hang out with you guys for bit. Let me get my coat."

A few minutes later saw Matt and Hunter walking toward the restaurant. The two had been walking in silence since Hunter had rejoined Matt after retrieving his coat. Finally, Hunter decided to take the opportunity to extend the olive branch further to Matt for Jeff's sake.

"By the way never got a chance to thank you for saving my ass from MVP and JBL.

Matt waved it off with a shrug. "I owed ya one, and there was no way I was gonna let those guys win." Then Matt smirked. "And a good excuse to give MVP back some for the other night."

They eventually arrived at the restaurant only to find Jeff was not there. Matt let out a put upon sigh as he pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jeff's number.

"He's a firecracker." Hunter chuckled.

"Don't I know it, try being responsible for the little-" Matt stopped when Jeff answered. "Jeff, dude, where the hell are you?"

"_Across the street man, didn't you get the text?"_

"And what pray tell are you doin' across the street?"

"_Trying to decide what sushi we should have, I kinda got a craving for tempura over pizza."_

Matt let out a good natured chuckle. "You're like a puppy sometimes, ya know that Jeffro? On the other hand sushi does sound good..."

"_Woof-woof. Now get your ass over here its on the corner."_

Matt hung up sniggering. "He's fine, just followed his nose to a sushi place. C'mon."

Hunter grinned as he follows Matt out the door. "Ever impulsive, but that's not a bad thing."

Matt grinned back. "I wouldn't change a bit of him. Just uh... don't tell him that.

"Well I won't tell him intentionally, but I'll be honest with you I can't make any promises in the throes of passion okay?" Hunter said.

Matt grimaced, opening the door to the restaurant. "Okay, now see man. We're getting along, all civil and then you go and put THAT in my head. Not. Cool."

Hunter shrugged. "Sorry just trying to be as honest as possible, I thought you liked that. You don't trust me enough as it is, lying to you won't get me any brownie points."

Meanwhile Jeff looked up from his menu when he heard two familiar voices. To his utter shock he saw both Matt and Hunter enter together though they seem to be in a quiet verbal battle. "Hey!" He called out to them with a tone of voice that was both a greeting and "What the hell is going on?" question.

"Hey, I brought a date." Matt offered him a smile and sat down on one side of Jeff while Hunter took the seat on the other side other.

Jeff's gaze shifted warily between the two not sure if this was genuine or a joke. "I can see that... And you sure you're okay with this?" He raised an eyebrow at his brother.

A cheshire cat grin appeared on Hunter's face. "He invited me."

Matt merely ordered his drink, kinda liking that for once he seemed to have knocked Jeff for a loop as opposed to the other way around.

A slightly uncomfortable silence reigned as a confused Jeff tried to figure out what was going on. He settled for going back to look at his menu. The brothers decided in the end to go with the chef's special "omakase" where the sushi chef would chose what they would eat. Hunter just opted for a drink.

After their drinks arrived, in an effort to ease things up Hunter changed the subject. "Hey uh, how about we keep these good vibes up, um Jeff I was thinking about that story you told me a couple weeks ago."

Jeff raised an eyebrow. "You remember that? I thought you'd dozed off?"

"What story?" Matt asked curiosity piqued.

"The one mom used to tell us about that village back in the day, mysterious guy shows up, mayor's son makes friends with him, all the townspeople think the stranger is a witch." Jeff said.

Matt perked up even more at that, it was one of the few stories he could vividly remember his mother telling them. "The one where they make the son prepare him for the execution..."

"Yeah he cuts off the stranger's hair or shaves his head, I can't remember, All the colors gone. Real sad." Jeff said thoughtfully.

"But I was wondering at the end was it ever official that he was a witch for real or...?" Hunter asked.

"I think they leave for the audience to decide." Jeff said. "What do you think the stranger was Matt? A witch or a gypsy, a magician?"

Matt swirled his beer in thought for a moment before take a swig, and finally answering. "I always thought maybe he was a spirit, you know? The spirit of friendship or some cheesey shit like that. And once someone offered him true friendship he left."

"That was one of my thoughts too." Jeff grinned. "How about you Hunter?"

"I thought the guy might be an alien." Hunter said thoughtfully.

"An alien?" Jeff furrowed his brow and Matt got an expression that screamed 'seriously?'

"Yeah," Hunter said confident in his conviction. "He beamed down to earth, maybe to get a new experience or maybe to study humans, or maybe just exile from home. That's why he stayed away from everyone so he could observe them from far away. But he didn't count on making friends with them so when he did, he got a little close and let his guard down. When his friend betrayed him and cut off his hair, maybe that weakened him somehow or he lost will to live. But then when his friend stuck up for him, he found a reason again, but he knew it was too dangerous to stay so he beamed himself away."

"Huh, now why didn't I think of that," Jeff said thoughtfully. "Good theory, Hunter."

Matt remained silent and took another swig of his beer, though he pondered over Hunter's idea, or more he pondered over the fact that Hunter was not just tolerating Jeff's quirkiness but was genuinely engaged in the conversation and coming up with quirky ideas of his own.

"Didn't know I had a nerd side huh?" Hunter chuckled.

"Nope...You hide it pretty damn well. Luckily, Jeff's good at bringing that side out of people." Matt said, ruffling his little brother's hair.

"Yeah, I think my weirdness may be contagious," Jeff smoothed his hair back into place, with a smirk.

"Not a bad thing little brother." Matt clinked his beer bottle against Jeff's.

"Kinda helps someone let go of themselves." Hunter said looking down at his own drink. His eyes softened and grew distant. "Which can be a relief sometimes."

The brothers exchanged glances, before Jeff slid his hand over Hunter's under the table, and gazed at him sympathetically. "It's gotta be tiring to be "The Game" all the time."

Hunter looked back up at them and for a moment, even though Matt was there, the facade of King of Kings completely slipped, his eyes went soft and a little sad looking directly at Jeff. "Yeah... Sometimes. Sometimes I wish I could be like you. Just let go and do random crazy shit and not care about a reputation. I can kinda get away with it in DX but even still I gotta be the straight man to Shawn who's going all over the place."

Suddenly the jovial voice of John Cena rang through the place, startling the other three men. "Yo! I see where the party's at."

Matt watched with some disappointment as Hunter's "Game" face came back almost immediately when he was aware of John's presence, and he and Jeff parted hands, but he said nothing, only giving Cena a wave.

"Yo back. What's up John?" Hunter greeted him.

"Saw you in here from outside does that mean the Pre-Backlash party tonight is off?" Cena asked with a raised eyebrow.

Hunter glanced warily over at the Hardys quickly, then back John. "No, It's not till 8pm, I'm just hanging out for a bit with less formal company." He glanced at his watch. "But I'd better get going. Gotta go get ready and actually look like the King of Kings."

"Yeah, gotta look the part at this thing," John chuckled as Hunter got up and walked past him, then looked over at Jeff. "I guess I'll being seeing you there too, Jeff."

Hunter froze at the door.

Jeff looked at John in surprise, then weight of realizing he had been left out of a party that he could have been invited to by Hunter, hit him. He looked down away from John rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "I uh... Wasn't invited man."

Cena's eyes widened a little in his own surprise looking at Jeff. He looked over at Hunter who was glaring back at him, then back at Jeff. "I... Thought..." He stammered fiddling with the bill of his ball cap awkwardly. He looked the epitome of embarrassed and a little ashamed that he had revealed something that both hurt Jeff's feelings and made Hunter mad at him. To keep from putting his foot further into his mouth, he just gave the Hardys a congenial wave. "Nevermind. See you tomorrow at Backlash then. Good Luck!"

Without another word he quickly made a break for the door. And kept his eyes averted away from Hunter as he passed by him out the door.

Hunter glared at Cena on his way out, before looking warily back back at the Hardys.

Jeff himself was surprised at how hurt he felt at this, after all Hunter had his own group of friends and commitments, they'd made no promises to include each other in such things like friends do, but feeling that he might have been purposefully overlooked, or just plain snubbed, nagged at his own insecurities and it felt none too good. True, he made no pretense of actually wanting to go to whatever party Hunter was putting on, if it was anything like the Valentine's day shindig he would be bored out of his mind. Then again, he had not known Hunter that well then, not like he knew him now. Maybe this time it would have been different, now that he knew Hunter more personally he would feel less like an outsider at these fancy things. Perhaps what hurt the most was possibly being snubbed by someone you had just had fun with in front of a crowd last night.

He made eye contact with Hunter and offered him the best smile he could force. "It's cool man, you probably thought I'd be bored out of my mind, and I probably would."

Hunter saw right through it as Jeff's eyes that had grown much more trusting of him in the last few days, betrayed the disappointment he felt. Hunter's own eyes went downcast and he turned and left without a word.

Matt honestly tried his best to stay out of this, but once again he did not LIKE how Hunter treated his brother. And Just when he actually starting to like the guy. "That arrogant...I can't believe he just snubbed you after everything."

"Don't get into Matt, let's just have fun okay?" Jeff picked up his menu. "I think I need another drink to get things started."

"Whatever you say little brother," Matt shook his head. "I didn't know Hunter and Cena were so buddy-buddy."

"Cena was one of Hunter's lovers before me." Jeff said nonchalantly.

Matt nearly spit out his beer, but managed to swallow, although it sent him into a cough fit.

Jeff couldn't keep from laughing. "Nevermind about the drink, I think you'll cheer things up just fine man."

000

After dinner the brothers headed back to their hotel, chatting about Backlash and other random things. However when they reached their rooms that were next door to each other, they found Hunter standing in front of Jeff's.

Hunter now dressed in a nice suit for the party, looked up from his phone as the brothers approached. "Hey..."

Jeff walked up acting as if nothing had happened, though the air of uneasiness between them could be felt by anyone passing by. "Hey? Aren't you gonna be late?"

Matt remained behind Jeff at the door to his own room, just staring at Hunter, not exactly glaring, but not welcoming either.

"Eh, they can wait." Hunter shrugged. "I wanted to talk to you first."

Matt let out a sigh and unlocked the door to his room. "Guess that's my cue. G'night Jeff. He nodded at Hunter before going inside his hotel room, but then pressed his ear to the closed door. THIS he had to hear!

"Look Jeff," Hunter said once Matt was gone. "I don't want you to think I didn't invite you because I didn't want you to come. I just thought you'd be bored out of your mind like you were at the Valentine's day party. I don't want you drink yourself silly again."

Jeff looked down at the floor idly scraping it with his foot. "Is that the real reason Hunter? I'd rather you be honest with me than just telling me what's easy to say at the moment."

Hunter hesitated before answering, while his reason was 90% true he did keep have some reservations about actually inviting the rather oddball rainbow haired warrior to this swanky Pre-show party. He didn't want to be embarrassed if Jeff did something off the wall or alienated people with his random wonderings or tendency to "zone out". He didn't even know if Jeff knew to dress properly for the occasion. He sure hadn't for the Valentine's day party. At least then Hunter could put it off as just a nice gesture in return for the painting Jeff had made for him. But a straightforward invitation was not as easy to pass off. Then again Jeff hadn't known he had been invited to the Valentine's day party when he got there.

"Yes,Jeff." Hunter replied as honestly as he could. "That and Randy is going to be there, and with things between you and him getting even worse, I didn't think boredom and a rival at the party would make for a good time.

Jeff looked back up at him, his eyes softening a little. "You're probably right about that..."

"Next time I'll make the gesture though okay?" Hunter said with a smile.

Jeff shook his head with a sigh. "Hunter I don't want you to invite me to anything just because you feel you have to, I want you to invite me because you actually want me there. If you don't, then don't invite me."

Hunter's smile faded as Jeff spoke, and when he was finished, nodded. "Fair enough. I'll see you later Jeff, good luck at Backlash." He said evenly in a more business like tone than a casual one as he walked past Jeff down the hall.

Jeff stiffened a little bit at the change in tone. He did not mean to throw Hunter's offer of inclusion in his face, he just didn't want to be included in something where we wasn't truly wanted.

"Hunter!" Jeff called after him.

The other man turned around with a raised eyebrow, Jeff offered him a smile. "It was fun working the crowd with you last night. We should do it again sometime."

The smile returned to Hunter's face. "Sure."

000

Hunter swirled his champagne only half listening to Randy rambling on about something or other. Man he was bored. Same people, practically the same talk every time. Although he seemed more bored than before, (not even Ric couldn't get him interested in a conversation), it sure didn't help that Shawn opted out so as to not let the tension between him and Batista bring down the party.

Rainbow hair and a mysterious smile matched with green eyes flashed through his head. Jeff. If only he were here, he would think of something interesting or funny to say. They could have entertained each other during the lulls.

Why didn't he invite him again? Oh yeah, he was afraid that Jeff's quirkiness would embarrass him. Dear God he was acting like the lead cheerleader and her cliq excluding the artsy kid for no other reason than they found him "weird". But truth be told, Hunter had started to grow fond of that weirdness. Perhaps it was Jeff's uniqueness that made everything else seem dull, or perhaps it was because Jeff had brought some of his own quirkiness, that he kept under careful control, out more freely.

"Hey 'H'," Ric waved a hand in front of his face. "Still with us?"

Hunter blinked and answered automatically. "Oh yeah, just thinking."

"What's on your mind Hunter?" Cena asked.

Caught a little off guard and certainly not going to tell them he was thinking about Jeff, he glanced around for something to tell them, including out the window at the stars, specifically Orion's belt. "I wonder what it would be like to look at this planet as someone from outer space. I mean what would someone from Mars think of us?"

Where Jeff would have happily engaged him in the conversation, when Hunter looked back at the group he was with, everyone was looking at him like he had grown two heads. He swallowed a weary sigh, put back on his confident mask of the King of Kings and waved it off with a laugh. "Ha. Where the hell did that come from? Sorry I must have had more champagne than I thought."

000

_Awwww, poor Hunter has to hide the quirkiness that Jeff is bringing out of him from everyone._


End file.
